Legal assistance at second instance Free legal assistance is provided to applicants in appeal procedures before the Appeals Authority under the terms and conditions set in the Ministerial Decision 788502/2023. 465 According to Ministerial Decision 494476/2023, the legal assistance scheme in appeal procedures is covered under AMIF (Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund) for the period of 2021-2027.466 According to Joint Ministerial Decision 788502/2023 regulating the State-funded legal aid scheme, asylum applicants are entitled to legal aid as long as they are not represented by another lawyer. The application for legal aid must be filed before the submission of the appeal. 467 Article 2 of Ministerial Decision no 494476/2023 stipulates that, in order to be included in the Registry of Lawyers maintained by the Asylum Service, a lawyer must be an active and non-suspended member of a Greek Bar Association that has not been disciplined by the Bar and that holds very good knowledge of the English language. Additionally, every lawyer registered in the Registry must have completed a training seminar on International Protection Law, organised by the Asylum Service of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum in cooperation with other actors, before being assigned cases. 468 The decision also explicitly provides for the possibility of legal assistance through videoconferencing in every Regional Asylum Office.469 The fixed fee of the Registry’s lawyers is € 90 for the drafting and submission of the appeal and of the suspension application if required, € 20 for the conclusion of the meeting with the appellant and € 50 for the memorandum, regardless of whether the appeal was filed by the applicant within the deadline provided by law or not. The fees are covered by the State. 470 Throughout 2024 there were delays in the payment of the fees due to the lawyers on the Legal Aid Register of the Asylum Service. As a result, in November 2024, following a decision of the Plenary of the Hellenic Bar Associations, the lawyers of the Registry abstained from their duties starting on 01.11.2024. The abstention was extended by a new decision of the Plenary, initially until 31.12.2024, and subsequently until 24.91.2025.471 In a letter dated 13 November 2024 addressed to the Director of the Asylum Service, the Administrative Director of the Appeals Authority, and the Director of the Reception and Identification Service, twenty civil society organisations, active in the field of migration and asylum, highlighted that the abstention from their duties of the lawyers of the Registry of the Asylum Service resulted in “a complete and objective inability of the Administration to meet its obligation to provide free legal assistance and representation at the second instance at the request of the persons concerned, as well as to ensure the continuation of such assistance throughout the appeal proceedings before the Independent Appeals Committees.” They also called for the suspension of issuance of first instance decisions rejecting and partially rejecting applications.472 In practice requests for legal aid at second instance are mainly submitted through the electronic platform of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, 473 notably because, as described above, first instance decisions may be notified to the applicants with a registered letter or other ways of notification and applicants’ access to RAOs/AAU is not unrestricted but a prior appointment is usually required, depending on the competent RAO/AAU. This may pose additional obstacles to applicants who are unfamiliar with the use 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 Ministerial Decision 788502/2023, Gov. Gazette 42/B/11.01.2023. MD 3449/2021 was repealed by MD 788502/2023 according to Article 6(2) of MD 788502/2023, MD 3686/2020 was repealed by MD 3449/2021 according to Article 6 of MD 3449/2021, MD 12205/2016 was repealed by MD 3686/2020 according to Article 6(2) MD 3686/2020. Ministerial Decision 494476/2023, Gov. Gazette 6393/B/07.11.2023. Gov. Gazette 42/B/11.01.2023. Ministerial Decision 494476/2023, Gov. Gazette 6393/B/07.11.2023. Article 1(7) MD 788502/2023. Article 3 MD 788502/2023. EfSyn, Ξεκινούν αποχή οι απλήρωτοι δικηγόροι της διαδικασίας ασύλου, 11.11.2024, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/3nhc37bu. Protocol Number β/147/13.11.2024. On file with the author. MoMA, Asylum Services, available here. 98