20 GREECE IRREGULAR MIGRANTS AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS ROUTINELY DETAINED IN SUBSTANDARD CONDITIONS Amnesty International opposes the treatment of irregular migration as a criminal offence, along with any associated detention. This includes the creation or imposition of criminal penalties for irregular entry or stay. Amnesty International believes that criminalizing irregular entry is a disproportionate control measure. Irregular migration, including entry and stay, should be treated as administrative offences. Detention of migrants on the grounds of their irregular status should always be a measure of last resort. Asylum-seekers must not be subject to criminal sanctions or otherwise penalized for the use of false documents or irregular entry. 3.4. EFFECTIVENESS OF REMEDIES CHALLENGING DETENTION Despite the fact that the current legislative framework provides mechanisms for challenging administrative detention, Amnesty International is concerned about their effectiveness and accessibility. Article 5(4) ECHR provides that “everyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings by which the lawfulness of his detention shall be decided speedily by a court and his release ordered if the detention is not lawful”. Article 18 (2) of the Asylum Procedures Directive states: “where an applicant for asylum is held in detention, Member States shall ensure that there is a possibility of a speedy judicial review”.65 Article 15(2) of the Returns Directive stipulates that: “when detention has been ordered by administrative authorities, Member States shall: (a) either provide for a speedy judicial review of the lawfulness of detention to be decided as speedily as possible from the beginning of detention; (b) or grant the third-country national concerned the right to take proceedings by means of which the lawfulness of detention shall be subject to speedy judicial review to be decided as speedily as possible...In such a case Member States shall immediately inform the third-country national concerned about the possibility of taking such proceedings.” Furthermore Article 15(3) states that: “In every case, detention shall be reviewed at reasonable intervals of time either on application by the third-country national concerned or ex officio.” International human rights standards also guarantee the right to be informed of the reasons for detention.66 Similarly, the Returns Directive provides that: “Detention shall be ordered in writing with reasons being given in fact and in law.”67 Article 47 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights further stipulates that: “Everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this Article. Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal previously established by law. Everyone shall have the possibility of being advised, defended and represented. Legal aid shall be made available to those who lack sufficient resources in so far as such aid is necessary to ensure effective access to justice.” National legislation provides that irregular migrants who are in administrative detention, or asylum-seekers who are in administrative detention or “confined in appropriate places”, have the right to challenge the decision ordering their detention by submitting objections against it to the First Instance Administrative Court in the region of their detention.68 Article 76(3) of Law 3386/2005 stipulates that a foreign national against whom an administrative deportation order is issued must be informed in a language they understand of Amnesty International July 2010 Index: EUR 25/002/2010