5.4. Legal assistance Indicators: Fast-track border procedure: Legal Assistance Same as regular procedure 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 decision in practice? Yes With difficulty No ❖ Does free legal assistance cover Representation in courts Legal advice The Asylum Code does not contain special provisions regarding free legal assistance in the fast-track border procedure. The general provisions and practical hurdles regarding legal aid are also applicable here (see section on Regular Procedure: Legal Assistance). State-funded legal aid is not provided for the fast-track border procedure at first instance. Therefore, legal assistance at first instance is made available only by NGOs based on capacity and areas of operation, while the scope of these services remains severely limited, bearing in mind the number of applicants subject to the fast-track border procedure. During the quarantine period, newly arrived asylum seekers were held in the quarantine area in isolation and without access to legal information or other information with regards to the reception, identification and asylum procedures. In general, only RIS personnel had access to the newly arrived individuals who were detained in quarantine; neither UNHCR personnel nor legal aid organisations had access to the newly arrived asylum seekers. According to information provided by the RIS, the RIS personnel provided general information to the quarantine detainees, however, this stood in contrast to the testimonies of individuals released from quarantine given to legal aid organisations, who reported that they did not receive any information regarding their rights and the asylum procedure during quarantine. Moreover, the reception and identification procedures were only carried out once the asylum seekers had been moved out of quarantine. No official registration of the asylum seekers was taking place during the quarantine period. This means that during the quarantine period, asylum seekers remained unregistered, without access to their rights and without any assessment of potential vulnerabilities. In Kos, throughout 2022, containers within the Pre-Removal Detention Centre (PRDC) section of the new CCAC were used to quarantine newly arrived asylum seekers. During the quarantine period, individuals held in the containers could not communicate with anyone outside of the detention area and had no access to legal aid, as their phones were arbitrarily confiscated upon arrival. In parallel, legal aid organisations’ and lawyers' access to asylum applicants for provision of legal aid was hindered in multiple ways. In May 2022, GCR was denied access to visit VIAL (Chios RIC). The RIS claimed that the number of residents had significantly decreased and there was no longer a need for legal information and assistance. In parallel, legal assistance was further hindered by a new rule requiring all NGO personnel, including lawyers, to present a smart card with a photo, personal details as well as fingerprints, in order to access the centres. This led the Athens Bar Association to issue a legal opinion (under protocol number 185/112-2022), following requests from registered legal organisations, stating that according to the Lawyers’ Code of Conduct (L.4194/2013), lawyers can freely enter Ministries and all public facilities (See section on Regular Procedure: Legal Assistance). 103