document, this text only provides generic information on the rejection/does not explain the precise reasons
for which the application has been rejected, therefore making it impossible for them to read and be aware
of the exact reasons for which their asylum application has been rejected. It is evident that, without legal,
aid applicants cannot adequately articulate the legal and factual grounds on which their appeals are
based, particularly taking into consideration the requirement that such appeals be submitted in Greek.
The provisions of the Asylum Code relating to the fictitious service (πλασματική επίδοση) of first instance
decisions are also applicable to the fast-track border procedure and thus the deadline for lodging an
appeal against a first instance negative decision may expire without the applicant having been actually
informed about the decision.618
In 2024, asylum applicants in Kos, Lesvos, Samos and Chios, were invited in RAOs to sign a
"declaration of e-mail address for communication with the asylum service", in which, among other things,
the applicant gives their e-mail address and confirms the following statement: 'I wish this address to be
used for my communication with the Asylum Service (information, appointment, service of decisions, etc.
documents, etc.)’. The information on the above was provided to the applicants with the assistance of an
interpreter.
By the end of 2025, providing the AS with an email has been a very well established practice (almost a
prerequisite) for communicating with the AS and the Appeals Committee. GCR is aware of several cases
of persons that have felt obliged to provide an email, even though they do not possessed one or knew
how to use it.
Paragraph 3 of Article 87 Asylum Code stipulates that "The service of the decision to the applicant shall
be carried out (....) or (c) by e-mail to an address indicated by the applicant to the Reception and
Identification Service or the Asylum Service or to an address indicated by his/her attorney or authorized
counsel or representative or (....). Paragraph 4 of the same article states that:
In case the applicant is a detainee or remains in Regional Reception and Identification Services
or resides in Reception or Accommodation Centres, the rejection decision or the extract of the
operative part of the decision granting international protection status and the accompanying
explanatory document of the third part of paragraph 3 shall be sent by any appropriate means to
the Head of the Centre or establishment or facility concerned, who shall ensure that a notice of
receipt and the times of delivery and distribution of the documents to applicants are posted
immediately for each working day and time, in conspicuous places in the premises, and shall
draw up an acknowledgement of receipt and post it. Applicants shall ensure that they arrive at
the centre within the hours of delivery and distribution of correspondence in order to be served
with the relevant mail. A delivery report shall be drawn up for each delivery to the applicant.
Service shall be deemed to have been affected after the expiry of three (3) days from the date on
which relevant act of receipt referred to in the first subparagraph was drawn.
Taking into consideration the above legal provisions, the Greek Ombudsperson intervened with regard to
the “Service of asylum decisions by e-mail to residents in the Kos CCAC”,619 and clarified that Article 87
Asylum Code clearly provides that the scope of application introduced by the legislator with paragraph 4
is more specific than that of paragraph 3, providing for the service of decisions on applicants who reside
in the structures of the Reception and Identification Service (RIS), such as the CCACs. Namely, the
Ombudsperson noted that the law does not allow the administration to derogate from the application of
the provisions of paragraph 4 of Article 87, through the signing of declarations by residents that they will
be served with the decisions by e-mail. Finally, it is crucial for the respect of the right to an effective
remedy, in the event of non-application of the above provisions, the time limit for lodging an appeal to
begin at least from the time when the applicant has demonstrably become aware of the decision.
618
619
Article 87 and 108 Asylum Code.
The Intervention of the Greek Ombudsman (no. 346822/2413/16-01-2024) following a legal NGO’s report was
shared within the context of the Athens Legal Aid Working Group, 23 January 2024.
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