Safe third country 20 √ Collegial Subsequent application with no new elements 5 × Single judge Application by a dependent 20 √ Single judge The Appeals Committee must decide on the appeal within 20 days, as opposed to 30 days in the regular procedure.569 Appeals Committees do not apply Art. 38(4) of the Asylum Procedures Directive (APD) with regards to applications that have been rejected as inadmissible on the basis of the safe third country concept vis-àvis Türkiye, despite the fact that readmissions to Türkiye have been suspended since March 2020. It is only in a limited number of cases that the Appeals Committees have proceeded to an in-merits examination of the application, invoking inter alia Article 38(4) APD by consideration of the suspension of readmissions to Türkiye.570 Selected caselaw In November 2024, in a case legally represented by GCR, the 18th Appeals Committee issued a decision with detailed reasoning and extensive reference to EU legislation and case law, which found that the Asylum Service had unlawfully rejected the asylum application of an Afghan national as inadmissible, based on the safe third country concept, by taking into account the suspension of readmissions to Türkiye.571 Specifically, in its decision, the Appeals Committee inter alia held that: ❖ “according to the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the C-134/2023 judgment of October 4, 2024 […] the suspension of the admission or readmission of applicants for international protection to the territory of a third country, which has been classified by a Member State as generally safe, means that the Member State must ensure that these applicants have access to a procedure in accordance with the fundamental principles and guarantees outlined in Articles 6 to 30 of Directive 2013/32 (para. 53). ❖ “if it is determined that the third country, classified by a Member State as generally safe, does not effectively accept the admission or readmission of the applicants for international protection, the Member State cannot reject their international protection applications as inadmissible based on Article 33(2)(c) of Directive 2013/32.” ❖ “[…] the Member State cannot unjustifiably delay the examination of these applications and must, among other things, ensure that the examination is carried out on an individual basis, in accordance with Article 10(3)(a) of the same Directive, and in compliance with the deadlines set out in Article 31 of the Directive (para. 54).” ❖ “…the Member State must ensure that the right recognised under Article 18 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and further specified by Directive 2013/32, to obtain the status of an international protection beneficiary, does not become practically ineffective (para. 55).” ❖ “In order to ensure the practical effectiveness of the provisions of Directive 2013/32 (whose purpose is to guarantee real, easy, and swift access to the international protection procedure), interpreted in light of Articles 18 and 47 of the Charter, it must be accepted that if, at the time of the asylum decision, it is already known that the third country will not allow the applicant to enter its territory […] there arises an obligation to examine the application substantively, in accordance with paragraph 4 of Article 38 of Directive 2013/32 (Article 91(5) of Law 4939/2022).” ❖ “[…] it is legally irrelevant whether the refusal or inability of the third country to accept the applicant within a reasonable time […] concerns reasons specific to the applicant, objective circumstances, or a different interpretation of the readmission agreement terms between the interested countries.” 569 570 571 Article 101 (d) L4636/2019, as amended by Article 25 (d) L4686/2020. Indicatively: 21st Appeals Committee, Decision 115795/2022, issued 28 February 2022, 10th Appeals Committee, Decision 224433/2022, issued 20 April 2022, 3rd Appeals Committee, Decision 345521/2022, issued 16 June 2022. 18th Appeals Committee, Decision 783018/2024, case legally represented by GCR, summary of the decision available [in Greek] in GCR et al, Greek Asylum Case Law Report, Issue 2/2024, available in Greek here, 911. 110