slightly higher than the 10.6% rate in 2021. Out of the total in-merits decisions, the rejection rate reached 88.19%, while the refugee recognition rate stood at 7.40% and the subsidiary recognition rate at 4.40%. 274 Time limits for lodging an Appeal before the Appeals Committees An applicant may lodge an Appeal before the Appeals Committees against a first instance decision of the Asylum Service rejecting the application for international protection. 275 An applicant may lodge an appeal before the Appeals Committees against a first instance decision of the Asylum Service rejecting the application for international protection as unfounded under the regular procedure, as well as against the part of the decision that grants subsidiary protection for the part rejecting refugee status, within 30 days from the notification of the decision or from the date he or she is presumed to have been notified thereof.276 In cases where the appeal is submitted while the applicant is in detention, the appeal should be lodged within 20 days from the notification of the decision. 277 Scope of the Appeal According to Articles 97(10) IPA and 102(10) Asylum Code, the Appeals Committees conduct a full and ex nunc examination of the asylum application.278 Based on legal precedents, Committees have the power to carry out their own assessment of the evidence and elements of the file. 279 Contrary to this position, however, some Committees have declared themselves as lacking jurisdiction to examine issues such as the need of the applicant for special procedural guarantees, where the first instance authority concluded that he or she is not vulnerable.280 Form of the Appeal According to both Article 93 IPA and Article 98 Asylum Code, the Appeal should inter alia be submitted in a written form and mention the “specific grounds” of the Appeal. 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 severely restricting 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 is practically impossible in the majority of the cases, considering the gaps in the provision of free legal aid especially in remote Regional Asylum Offices. 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’.281 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]’.282 In 2021, the number of the Appeals rejected pursuant to Article 93 IPA doubled in comparison to the 2020 (53 Decisions) yet still remained relatively low (110 Decisions) as the Appeals Committees interpreted the said provision broadly and considered that even Appeals written by the Applicants in his/her native 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 MoMA, Reply of the Ministry to the Greek Parliament, 16 March 2023, https://bit.ly/3JIy0y6. Article 92(1) IPA and 97(1) Asylum Code Article 92(1)(a) IPA and 97(1) Asylum Code Article 92(1)(b) IPA and 97(1) Asylum Code Council of State (Plenary), Decision 1694/2018, 21 August 2018, para 19. 19th Appeals Committee, Decision 6219/2021, 25 May 2021, para 4; 12th Appeals Committee, Decision 56970/2021, 10 June 2021, para A.7; 11th Appeals Committee, Decision 59841/2021, 11 June 2021, para 7; 11th Appeals Committee, Decision 62800/2021, 14 June 2021, para 9; 3 rd Appeals Committee, Decision 75059/2021, 18 June 2021, para II.2; 6th Appeals Committee, Decision 140330/2021, 21 July 2021, 12; 8 th Appeals Committee, Decision 1592/2021, 21 July 2021, para 3; 12 th Appeals Committee, Decision 233902/2021, 9 September 2021, 3. 6th Appeals Committee, Decision 2411/2019, 28 February 2020, para 10; 6th Appeals Committee, Decision 30955/2020, 18 May 2021, para II.4. 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. 64