1.1. Asylum detention According to Article 50 Asylum Code, an asylum applicant shall not be detained on the sole ground of seeking international protection or having entered and/or stayed in the country irregularly. 1178Article 50(2)(3) Asylum Code also provided that such a detention measure should be applied exceptionally, after an individual assessment and only as a measure of last resort where no alternative measures can be applied. A detention order under the Asylum Code is issued following prior notification by the Head of the Asylum Service (with the exception of detention on public order/national security grounds). However, the final decision on the detention lies with the Police. Article 50(2) of the Asylum Code foresees the possibility to detain asylum applicants who have already applied for asylum while at liberty. Article 50(3) of the Asylum Code provides that an asylum applicant may remain in detention if they are already detained for the purpose of removal when they make an application for international protection, and subject to a new detention order following an individualised assessment. In this case, the asylum applicant may be kept in detention on the basis of one of the following five grounds:1179 (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) in order to determine their identity or nationality; in order to determine those elements on which the application for international protection is based which could not be obtained otherwise, in particular when there is a risk of absconding of the applicant; when it is ascertained on the basis of objective criteria, including that they already had the opportunity to access the asylum procedure, that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant is making the application for international protection merely in order to delay or frustrate the enforcement of a return decision, if it is probable that the enforcement of such a measure can be affected; when they constitute a danger for national security or public order; when there is a serious risk of absconding by the applicant, in order to ensure the enforcement of a transfer decision according to the Dublin III Regulation. For the establishment of a risk of absconding for the purposes of detaining asylum applicants on grounds (b) and (e), the law refers to the definition of “risk of absconding” in pre-removal detention.1180 The relevant provision of national law includes a non-exhaustive list1181 of objective criteria which may be used as a basis for determining the existence of such a risk. Additional criteria as the ‘lack of a residence or a known accommodation’ have been added with L. 5226/2025. 1182 As underlined by UNHCR, “the broadening of the criteria for determining a “risk of absconding,” which may lead to arbitrary detention, in particular when the ground is applied without proper justification”.1183 1.2. The interpretation of the legal grounds for detention in practice There is a lack of a comprehensive individualised procedure for each detention case, despite the relevant legal obligation to do so. This is of particular concern with regard to the proper application of the lawful detention grounds provided by national legislation, as the particular circumstances of each case are not duly taken into consideration. Furthermore, the conditions and the legal grounds for the lawful imposition of a detention measure seem to be misinterpreted in some cases. These cases include the following: 1178 1179 1180 1181 1182 1183 Article 50(1) Asylum Code. Article 50(3) Asylum Code. Article 18(g) L 3907/2011, cited by Article 50(2-b) and 50(3-b) Asylum Code. The fact that national legislation includes a non-exhaustive and indicative list of such criteria, thus allowing for other criteria not explicitly defined by law to be used for determining the existence of the “risk of absconding”, is not in line with the relevant provision of EU law, according to which said objective criteria ‘must be defined by law’, see inter alia Article 3(7) Directive 2008/115/EC; see CJEU, C 241/21, 6 October 2022, para. 50 and mutandis mutandis CJEU, C-528/15, Al Chodor, 15 March 2017, para. 47. Article 4 L. 5226/2025. UNHCR Comments on the Draft Law of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, 29 August 2025, https://www.unhcr.org/gr/en/unhcr-comments-draft-law. 238