1.4.2. Judicial review
Applicants for international protection may lodge an application for annulment (αίτηση ακύρωσης) of a
negative second instance decision of the Appeals Committees solely before the Administrative Court of
First Instance of Athens or Thessaloniki, 453 within 30 days from the notification of the decision. 454 Following
the lodging of the application for annulment, an application for suspension can be filed.
A request for an interim order can be filed also for temporary protection from removal after the application
for suspension, only in cases were the decision to return the person in his country of origin is issued by
the Police Alliens Directorate and should be issued within 15 days from the lodging of the application. 455
Rejected asylum seekers at second instance do not have the capacity to lodge an interim measure
request, only an application for suspension which can take months before it is decided up on.
The effectiveness of these legal remedies is severely undermined by a number of practical and legal
obstacles:
❖ The application for annulment and application for suspension/interim order can only be filed by a
lawyer. In addition, no legal aid is provided in order to challenge a second instance negative
decision. The capacity of NGOs to file such applications is very limited due to high legal fees. The
fees for filing an application for annulment varies between 257,80 euros to 318,55 euros, while
the fees for filing an application for suspension varies between 145,40 euros to 198,35 euros,
depending on the employment status of the lawyer. An additional financial burden required for
the hearing of the application for suspension is the notification of the application to the Minister
of Migration and Asylum, performed by a bailiff and amounting to 43,40 euros. Additionally, when
it comes to the hearing of the application for annulment, if the applicant is not present at the
hearing, the submission of a proxy is required, which costs approx. 60-65 euros. Legal aid may
only be requested under the general provisions of Greek law, 456 which are in any event not tailored
to asylum applicants and cannot be accessed by them in practice due to several obstacles. For
example, the request for legal aid is submitted by an application written in Greek; free legal aid is
granted only if the legal remedy for which the legal assistance is requested is not considered
“manifestly inadmissible” or “manifestly unfounded”. 457 As noted by the UN Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention “[i]nadequate legal aid is provided for challenging a second instance negative
decision on an asylum application, and the capacity of NGOs to file this application is very limited
given the number of persons in need of international protection”.458
❖ The application for annulment and application for suspension/interim order do not have an
automatic suspensive effect.459 Therefore between the submission of an application for
suspension/interim order and the in-merit decision of the court, there is no guarantee that the
applicant will not be removed from the territory.
❖ The Administrative Court can only examine the legality of the decision and not the merits of the
case.
❖ The judicial procedure is lengthy. GCR is aware of several cases pending for a period of more
then five years for the issuance of a decision of the Administrative Court of Appeals following an
application for annulment.
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
Article 114 Asylum Code with reference to Article 15(4) L. 3068/2002
Article 115 Asylum Code.
Article 15(6) L 3068/2002, as amended by Article 115 IPA.
Articles 276 and 276A Code of Administrative Procedure.
Ibid.
UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Addendum: Mission to
Greece, A/HRC/45/16/Add.1, 29 July 2020, available here, para. 85.
See, e.g., ECtHR, M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece, application No 30696/09, Judgment of 21 January 2011.
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