1.5. Legal assistance Indicators: Regular Procedure: Legal Assistance 1. Do asylum seekers have access to 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 seekers 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 seekers have the right to consult, at their own cost, a lawyer or other legal advisor on matters relating to their application.321 Legal assistance at first instance No state-funded free legal aid is provided at first instance, nor is there a legal obligation to provide it. A number of non-governmental organisations provide free legal assistance and counselling to asylum seekers at first instance, depending on their availability 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, in particular after the entry into force of the IPA. 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’.322 Legal assistance at second instance Free legal assistance shall be provided to applicants in appeal procedures before the Appeals Authority under the terms and conditions set in the Ministerial Decision 3449/2021.323 The first Ministerial Decision concerning free legal aid to applicants was issued in September 2016.324 However, the state-funded legal aid scheme on the basis of a list managed by the Asylum Service started operating, for the first time, on 21 September 2017. According to Joint Ministerial Decision 3449/2021 regulating the state-funded legal aid scheme, asylum seekers must request legal aid at least: 325 ❖ 10 days before the date of examination of the appeal under the regular procedure, ❖ 5 days before the date of examination of the appeal under the Accelerated Procedure or the application has been rejected as inadmissible, ❖ 3 days before the date of examination of the appeal in case the appellant is in RIC or in case of revocation of international protection status. When Article 90(3) IPA or 95(3) of the Asylum Code (“fast track border procedure”) applies, the application for legal assistance is submitted at the time of lodging the appeal.326 The decision also explicitly provides 321 322 323 324 325 326 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, 29 July 2020, A/HRC/45/16/Add.1, available at: https://bit.ly/3dL8I0U, para. 85. Ministerial Decision 3449/2021, Gov. Gazette 1482/13.04.2021. MD 3686/2020 was repealed by MD 3449/2021 according to Article 6 of MD 3449/2021, MD 12205/2016 was repealed by MD 3686/2020 according to Article 6(2) MD 3686/2020 Ministerial Decision 12205/2016, Gov. Gazette 2864/B/9-9-2016. Joint Ministerial Decision 3449/2021, Gov. Gazette 1482/B/13-4-2021. MD 3686/2020, Gov. Gazette 1009/B/24-3-2020 was repealed by MD 3449/2021 according to Article 6(2) MD 3449/2021. Article 1(3) MD 3449/2021. 70