guarantees provided to asylum applicants, despite the fact that according to Greek law, any individual who expresses the intention to lodge an application for international protection is an asylum applicant. Since the waiting period between expression of intention and registration is not counted in the duration of detention, asylum applicants may be detained for a total period exceeding the maximum detention time limit for asylum applicants. In practice, the lack of adequate information to persons in detention, the lack of free legal aid scheme and the lack of interpretation services in pre-removal detention centres and other police facilities, as recently found by the CPT, significantly hinder access to asylum for those in detention.345 The time period between the expression of intention to apply for asylum and the registration varies depending on the circumstances of each case, and in particular, the capacity of the competent authority, the availability of interpretation, and the number of people wishing to apply for asylum from detention. Τhe discontinuation of interpretation services in asylum procedures from mid-2024 onwards, as mentioned above, has inevitably led to an increase in the length of detention of administrative detainees who wished to apply for international protection. C. Procedures 1. Regular procedure 1.1. General (scope, time limits) Indicators: Regular Procedure: General 1. Time limit set in law for the determining authority to make a decision on the asylum application at first instance: 6 months 2. Are detailed reasons for the rejection at first instance of an asylum application shared with the applicant in writing? Yes No 3. Backlog of pending cases at first instance as of 31 December 2024: 26,623 4. Average length of the first instance procedure in 2024: Current data on the average length of the first instance procedure is not available. According to data published by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum (MoMA),346 a total of 69,000 (first time) applications for asylum were lodged before the Asylum Service in 2024, an increase of 19.18% compared to the 57,891 (first time) applications lodged in 2023.347 According to Article 88(3) Asylum Code, an asylum application should be examined “the soonest possible” and, in any case, within six months of lodging, in the context of the regular procedure. This time limit may be extended for a period not exceeding three months, in cases where a large number of third-country nationals or stateless persons simultaneously apply for international protection. In any event, as per the same article, the examination of the application should not exceed 21 months. Where no decision is issued within the maximum time limit fixed in each case, the asylum applicant has the right to request information from the Asylum Service on the timeframe within which a decision is expected to be issued. As expressly foreseen in the Asylum Code, ‘this does not constitute an obligation on the part of the Asylum Service to issue a decision within a specific time limit.’348 Applicants who are recognised as refugees are given only an excerpt of the relevant decision, which does not include the decision’s reasoning. According to the Asylum Code, in order for the entire decision to be 345 346 347 348 CPT, Report to the Greek Government on the visit to Greece carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 20 November to 1 December 2023, 12 July 2024, CPT/Inf (2024) 21, available here, paras. 33-37. MoMA, Statistics, Consolidated Reports - Overview: December 2024 - International Protection | Appendix A, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/339dencw, table 7c. MoMA, Statistics, Consolidated Reports - Overview: December 2023 - International Protection | Appendix A, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/339dencw, table 7c. Article 88(6) Asylum Code. 74