Form of the Appeal According to Article 98 Asylum Code, the appeal shall inter alia be submitted in a written form and mention the “specific grounds” on which the applicant relies to challenge the first instance decision. If these conditions are not fulfilled, the appeal will be rejected as inadmissible without an examination on the merits. This provision has been largely criticised as it severely restricts access to the appeal procedure in practice, and appears to contradict EU law, namely Article 46 of the recast Asylum Procedures Directive and Article 47 of the EU Charter of Fundamental rights. The requirements set by Article 93 IPA and maintained by the Asylum Code, in practice, can only be fulfilled when a lawyer assists the applicant, which remains a challenge, considering the gaps in the provision of free legal aid. Namely, out of the total 10,973 appeals against first instance negative decisions sumbbited during 2023,369 legal aid was provided in less than two out of three cases (total of 6,892 cases or roughly 62% of cases).370 As noted in previous years,371 since it is unlikely that such a percentage of appellants (in this case 4,081 or roughly 38%) had either sufficient funds to secure a private lawyer and/ or access to free legal aid provided by NGOs, the aforementioned discrepancy highlights the ongoing difficulties that applicants face in accessing and securing state funded free legal aid at appeal stage as provided by law. Accordingly, as stated by the UNHCR, “[i]n some circumstances, it would be so difficult to appeal against a rejection that the right to an effective remedy enshrined in international and EU law, would be seriously compromised”.372 Moreover, as noted “the obligation for the applicant to provide specific reasons instead of simply requesting the ex nunc examination of his/her application for international protection, does not seem to be in accordance with the [Asylum Procedural Directive]”.373 In 2021, the number of the appeals rejected pursuant to Article 93 IPA doubled in comparison to 2020 (53 Decisions) yet still remained relatively low (110 Decisions) as the Appeals Committees interpreted said provision broadly and considered that even appeals written by the applicants in his/her native language and without mentioning “specific grounds” were admissibly lodged. More recent data concerning the number of appeals rejected pursuant to Article 93 IPA (currently 98 Asylum Code) was not provided, even though it was requested by GCR. Instead, following GCR’s relevant January 2024 request for information, the MoMA replied by referring GCR to the Ministry’s website “and in particular at the link https://migration.gov.gr/statistika/ [where] the monthly newsletters are published, alongside relevant annexes, which include summary and detailed statistical data on the work of the First Reception Service, the Asylum Service and the Appeals Authority […]”.374 Yet a closer look at the public sources referenced by the MoMA highlights that the specific data is not available. Suspensive effect Appeals before the Appeals Authority had automatic suspensive effect in all procedures under the previous law. The IPA abolished the automatic suspensive effect for certain appeals,375 in particular those concerning applications rejected in the accelerated procedure or dismissed as inadmissible under certain grounds. The Asylum Code that came into force in the second half of 2022 has maintained these provisions. In such cases, the appellant may submit an application before the Appeals Committees, requesting their stay in the country until the second-instance appeal decision is issued. Suspensive effect 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 MoMA, Statistics, Consolidated Reports - Overview: December 2023 - International Protection | Appendix A, available at: https://tinyurl.com/wn2kukaa, table 10a. As per data provided pursuant to Parlamentary question 4099/201/02.04.2024. For instance, AIDA report on Greece: 2021 update, May 2022, available at: https://tinyurl.com/3a8u24w5, 20. and AIDA report on Greece: 2022 update, June 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/3a8u24w5, 71. UNHCR, UNHCR urges Greece to strengthen safeguards in draft asylum law, 24 October 2019. UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNHCR Comments on the Law on ‘International Protection and other Provisions’ (Greece), February 2020, available at: https://bit.ly/31Oh4zm. MoMA, Analysis and Studies Office, Reply to GCR’s request for information for the preparation of the updated Annual Report on Greece for 2023 in the framework of the Asylum Information Database (AIDA) project, received on 14 February 2024 (protocol number: 55259). Article 104(2) IPA and Article 110(2) Asylum Code. 80