within a deadline of up to 30 days. However, rejected asylum seekers cannot voluntarily depart in order to return to their country of origin due to risks of refoulement, and lack legal documents to enter and stay in another country. Therefore, the decision of voluntary departure is contrary to Article 3 of the Convention, to the extent that asylum seekers’ fear of return to their country of origin has never been assessed by the Greek authorities.62 Rejection of asylum appeals on formal grounds – failure to appear in person or to submit a residence certificate 33. As a rule, asylum appeals are examined by the IAC in a written procedure without a hearing of the appellant.63 Oral hearings are ordered extremely rarely – less than 3% of appeals processed in 2022 involved an oral hearing.64 34. Asylum seekers appealing a first instance asylum decision are required either to appear before the IAC in person for the examination of their appeal or to submit a certificate of residence in a camp no later than the eve of the examination of the appeal. Such a certificate of residence in reception facility must be dated no earlier than three days prior to the examination of the appeal, whereas a certificate of residence in a RIC must be dated no earlier than two days prior to the examination of the appeal. The above rule imposes an entirely formal requirement on asylum seekers with no bearing on the assessment of the case, given that the overwhelming majority of asylum appeals are examined sur dossier without a hearing. 35. Where the appellant does not appear in person or does not submit a residence certificate within the above timeframes, their appeal shall be dismissed as manifestly unfounded.65 The provisions of the Asylum Code thereby allow IAC to rely on purely formal grounds to dismiss otherwise admissible – and likely well-founded – asylum appeals without at all pronouncing themselves on the merits of the case. Here too, negative decisions are accompanied by a removal order, 66 and thereby engage the principle of non-refoulement under Article 3 of the Convention. 36. IAC have applied the above rule increasingly strictly in practice. The number of appeals dismissed on grounds of failure to appear in person or to submit a residence certificate in due time almost tripled from 532 in 2021 to 1,818 in 2022.67 Another 761 have been dismissed in the first five months of 2023 alone, according to official data. IAC have demonstrated excessive formalism in enforcing the rule and have dismissed appeals even in cases of persons who submitted a residence certificate on the day of examination of their appeal rather than the eve,68 or a certificate dated four days prior to examination instead of three.69 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 RSA & HIAS, The role of the European Commission in the implementation of the EU asylum acquis on the Greek islands, February 2023, para 37. Article 102(1) Asylum Code. 494 cases out of a total of 17,317 decisions: RSA, The Greek asylum procedure in figures in 2022, March 2023, 14. Article 102(2) Asylum Code. Note that the appeal may also be dismissed as implicitly withdrawn on the same grounds under Article 83(3) Asylum Code. Article 100(10) Asylum Code. RSA, The Greek asylum procedure in figures in 2021, March 2022, 6; The Greek asylum procedure in figures in 2022, March 2023, 14. Administrative Court of Athens, 940/2023, 31 May 2023, available at: https://shorturl.at/gjBGX. Administrative Court of Thessaloniki, 370/2023, 8 May 2023, available at: https://shorturl.at/gjBGX. 13 RSA COMMENTS│ 2023