36
detention” the right to “take proceedings by
administrative or judicial body. Although the
which the lawfulness of his detention shall be
authorities insist that the quarantine in
decided speedily by a court and his release or-
Lefkonia is not detention and so will not issue
dered if the detention is not lawful” and is
detention orders, they are still required to issue
closely related to Art. 5(2). Article 13 ECHR more
confinement orders in line with the March 25th
generally guarantees the right to an effective
Legislative Act. As they have never issued such
remedy before a national authority against vio-
an order, the remedy foreseen by that act is sim-
lations of rights and freedoms laid down in the
ilarly unavailable to asylum seekers in quaran-
Convention. Where fundamental rights viola-
tine. Even if it might be possible for someone to
tions are at stake, the remedy must thoroughly
indirectly challenge their quarantine – e.g., by
and accurately examine such risks.124
filing a complaint against the failure to issue a
The right to an effective remedy both protects a
detention or confinement order – without infor-
person’s fundamental rights and safeguards the
mation on the reasons for detention, any theo-
legal system as a whole.125 When a person’s fun-
retical right to appeal against it is deprived of
damental rights are at stake, as is the case when
“all effective substance”129. Moreover, any rem-
they are detained and under the full custody of
the state, the CJEU has held that it is particu-
edy would have to put forth legal arguments in
Greek, and thus require a lawyer. However, law-
larly important for judicial protection to be ef-
yers are not allowed to enter Lefkonia, and the
fective.126 The ECtHR has taken a similar
police confiscates phones of persons quaran-
approach to the right to an effective remedy in
tined, making it structurally impossible for law-
the case of detention (Article 5).127
yers to represent people in quarantine on Chios.
Finally, in order for a remedy to be effective it
Application
must be accessible during a person’s detention,
The absence of an individual assessment, a de-
and it must be capable of leading to release.130
tention order, lack of information, inability to
Thus, structural obstacles preventing access to
speak to lawyers or contact the outside world all
administrative procedures, courts, or legal
prevent asylum seekers quarantined on Chios
counsel as described above de facto amount to
from having access to an effectively remedy.
First, without a confinement or detention or-
the deprivation of an effective legal remedy.
der 128 , people have no means of directly challenging
their
detention
before
an
ECtHR, Judgment of 21 January 2011, 30696/09, M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece, para. 387.
CJEU, Judgement of 15 October 1987, UNECTEF v Heylens and others, 222/86; CJEU, Judgement of 7 May 1991, Irène Vlassopoulou contro Ministerium für Justiz, Bundes- und Europaangelegenheiten Baden-Württemberg, C-340/89.
126
CJEU, Judgement of 18 January 2007, Osman Ocalan, on behalf of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Serif Vanly, on
behalf of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) v Council of the European Union, C-229/05, para 110.
127
ECtHR, Judgement of 13 December 2016, 26623/07, Kaya v. Turkey; ECtHR, Judgement of 25 May 1998, 15/1997/799/1002, Kurt
v. Turkey,
128
This report takes the position that the quarantine in Lefkonia is detention and therefore the distinction between a confinement and detention order is not significant and merely a matter of semantics.
129
ECtHR, Judgement of 15 December 2016, 16483/12, Khlaifa and Others, § 132.
124
125
‘Quarantine of Asylum Seeker’ – A legal classification of the quarantine practice on Chios