In Greece, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are systematically detained when apprehended at the border or without proper documents on the territory. Migrants and asylum seekers are initially held in police or border guards’ stations and should then be transferred to specific detention facilities if a return order is issued or if the person is being prosecuted for illegal entry. However, it happens that people are held in police stations for the full duration of their detention. In theory, however, according to Article 13 Presidential Decree 114/10, a third-country national or stateless person who applies for international protection shall not be held in detention for the sole reason that they entered and remain illegally in the country. The law further states that detention of applicants for international protection in appropriate facilities is exceptionally allowed when alternatives to detention cannot be applied for one of the following reasons: e. the applicant does not possess or has destroyed their travel documents and it is necessary to determine the identity, the circumstances of entry and the nationality of the applicant, in particular in case of massive illegal entry of asylum applicants. f. the applicant is a danger for national security or public order, the reasons being detailed in the detention order. g. detention is considered necessary for the speedy and effective completion of the asylum procedure. From now on, asylum seekers awaiting a decision on their application in Greece might be detained for up to 18 months. The provisions governing the maximum length of time by which asylum seekers’ detention can be extended has recently changed. It used to be the case that, in accordance with Article 13 in Presidential Decree 114/2010, the maximum duration of asylum seekers’ detention was of up to 90 days and, “If the applicant has been detained earlier in view of an administrative deportation order, the total detention time cannot exceed 180 days”. According to the new amendment, detention can be further prolonged by up to 12 months, by a police administrative decision. This change was brought about by the new Presidential Decree 116/2012, published in the Greek Government Gazette on 19 October 2012. Applicants detained according to the above paragraphs are allowed to appeal and submit objections against their detention according to Article 76 paragraph 3 of law 3386/2005, a remedy which in practice cannot be considered as successfully effective. Also the UN Special of the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of Migrants in his recent report on the situation in Greece criticised the lack of effective judicial review with regard to immigration-related detention in particular in view of the 73 lack of access to an interpreter and legal assistance as well as the scope of the review. At this point, attention should be drawn on a recent decision of the criminal court of first instance of Igoumenitsa in Greece, according to which a group of migrants who had escaped from a Greek detention centre were acquitted because the conditions of detention were judged as inhuman and in 74 breach of Article 3 ECHR. As a result, asylum seekers awaiting a decision on their asylum application in Greece may be detained up to 18 months. The prospect of being detained for so long under appalling conditions may deter 73 74 “Although migrants may present objections to their detention (Law 3386/2005, art.76.3 and Law 3907/2011, art.76.2), this is not automatic and does not provide for a direct review of the lawfulness of the detention. Moreover, objections need to be submitted in writing and in Greek. Access to an interpreter and lawyer is not guaranteed, which makes objection to the detention decision virtually impossible, particularly as detention and deportation orders are written in Greek”. Furthermore the UN Special Rapporteur also considers the automatic judicial review as introduced by Law 3907/2011 not sufficient as it “regulates the extension of detention only and not the detention per se. The Special Rapporteur was also informed that the review is undertaken automatically, with no reference to the specificities of each case, and the fact that expulsion of a migrant has not yet been possible constitutes reason enough for the judge to extend the detention”. See United Nations Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, François Crépeau. Mission to Greece, 17 April 2013, at p. 13. Criminal Court of first instance of Igoumenitsa, Judgement of 2 October 2012 (in Greek). 48