Moreover, according to Article 114(2) of the Asylum Code, the Minister on Migration and Asylum also has the right to lodge an application for annulment against the decisions of the Appeals Committee before the Administrative Court. In 2020, the Minister on Migration and Asylum lodged one application for annulment against a second instance decision of the Appeals Committees. The Appeals Committee rejected the Minister’s appeal and ruled that an applicant for whom a decision to discontinue the examination of the asylum application due to implicit withdrawal has been issued, cannot be removed before the nine-month period during which she can report again to the competent authority in order to request her case be reopened. The Minister appealed to the Council of State which, on 27 June 2022, issued decision No. 1398/2022, accepting the Minister’s application for annulment. 460 A total of 89 applications for annulment were lodged before the Administrative Courts of Athens and Thessaloniki against second instance negative decisions in 2025, marking a 77% decrease compared to the previous year (385). Of these, 1 was accepted, 1 was rejected, and the rest (87) were pending at the end of the year.461 During the same period, a total of 565 decisions on applications for annulment were issued, of which 86 were accepted, 96 were rejected as unfounded, and 340 were rejected as inadmissible, while 43 concerned resignations.462 1.5. Legal assistance Indicators: Regular Procedure: Legal Assistance 1. Do asylum applicants have access to state-provided free legal assistance at first instance in practice? Yes With difficulty No ❖ Does free legal assistance cover: Representation in interview Legal advice 2. Do asylum applicants have access to free legal assistance on appeal against a negative decision in practice? Yes With difficulty No ❖ Does free legal assistance cover Representation in courts Legal advice Asylum applicants have the right to consult, at their own cost, a lawyer or other legal advisor on matters relating to their application.463 Any qualified lawyer registered with a Bar Association in Greece has the right to assist or intervene in an international protection case without additional training required. This includes lawyers employed by NGOs. Legal assistance at first instance No state-funded legal aid is provided at first instance, nor is there a legal obligation to provide it. A number of non-governmental organisations (NGO) provide free legal assistance and counselling to asylum applicants at first instance, depending on their capacity and presence across the country. The scope of these services remains limited, taking into consideration the number of applicants in Greece and the needs throughout the whole asylum procedure – including registration of the application, first and second instance, judicial review and the complexity of the procedures followed. As noted by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ‘[t]he Working Group urges the Government to expand the availability of publicly funded legal aid so that persons seeking international protection have access to legal advice at all stages of the process, from the moment of filing their application until a final determination is made’.464 460 461 462 463 464 Council of State, Decision No. 1398/2022, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/2cwxtf2v. MoMA, Statistics: Consolidated Reports – Overview, December 2025 - International Protection | Appendix A, available at: https://tinyurl.com/26ynfarp Table 12a. Ibid., table 12b. Article 71(1) IPA and Article 76(1) Asylum Code. UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Addendum: Mission to Greece, A/HRC/45/16/Add.1, 29 July 2020, available here, para. 85. 97