Where a geographical limitation has been imposed to the appellant or an obligation to reside in a given place of residence, a declaration signed by the appellant (and the authenticity of the signature of the appellant is verified by the Police or the Citizens Service Centre (KEP)), can be sent to Committee, prior of the date of the examination. This certification should have been issued no more than 3 days prior of the examination of the appeal or alternatively, an appointed lawyer can appear before the Committee on behalf of the appellant. As noted, these provisions impose an unnecessary administrative obligation (in-person appearance of the applicant/lawyer as well as transmission of extra certifications) and further introduced a disproportionate “penalty”, as the in-merits rejection of the Appeals without examination of the substance raises serious concerns as to the effectiveness of the remedy and the principle of non-refoulment. This obligation first imposed by the IPA and maintained by the Asylum Code confirmed the criticism that the law on asylum “puts an excessive burden on asylum seekers and focuses on punitive measures. It introduces tough requirements that an asylum seeker could not reasonably be expected to fulfill”. 297 As UNHCR has noted these provisions “are expected to have a negative impact on applicants’ access to the second instance and the proper examination of their appeal, and as such seriously undermine the right to an effective remedy”.298 In 2022, 1,790 Appeals were rejected as “manifestly unfounded” compared to 532 such decisions in 2021. Currently, there is no available information as to whether these rejections were issued on the basis of provisions imposing the in-person appearance of the appellant or his/her lawyer before the Committee or the communication of certification of residence (Article 83(3) of the Asylum Code to the Committee. 299 Examination under a single-member Appeals Committee/three members Appeals Committee: the IPA provides that appeals are examined under a collegial format by the three members Committee 300 or in a single judge format when it comes to appeals filed after the deadline as well as for certain appeals in the Accelerated Procedure and the Admissibility Procedure, which should thus be examined by a singlejudge.301 Following an amendment of the Regulation for the functioning of the Appeals Committees which was issued in November 2020, the categories of cases examined under a single-judge format has been extended, as all appeals submitted by applicant residing in Lesvos, Samos, Chios, Kos, Leros are examined by a single judge committee irrespectively of the procedure applied. 302 Issuance of a Decision: According to IPA, the Appeals Committee must reach a decision on the appeal within 3 months when the regular procedure is applied. 303 The Asylum Code, which entered into force in the second half of 2022, provides that decisions have to be issued as soon as possible and in any case: (a) Within thirty (30) days of the hearing of the case in regular procedure cases, (b) Within twenty (20) days of the hearing in accelerated procedure case, (c) Within ten (10) days of the hearing in cases where the appellant is under administrative detention, (d) Within twenty (20) days of the hearing in cases when the application is rejected as inadmissible in accordance with Article 89, An exception is introduced for priority cases, as the decision must be issued within fifteen (15) days of the hearing.304 Notification of second instance decision: Similar to the fictitious service at first instance, both the IPA and the Asylum Code also provide the possibility of a fictitious service (πλασματική επίδοση) of second instance decisions as described above. 305 Once again, as a result of this provision on the possibility of a 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 UNHCR, UNHCR urges Greece to strengthen safeguards in draft asylum law, 24 October 2019. UNHCR, UNHCR Comments on the Law on ‘International Protection and other Provisions’ (Greece), Ibid. MoMA, Reply of the Ministry to the Greek Parliament, 16 March 2023, https://bit.ly/3JIy0y6. Article 116(2) IPA. Article 116(2) IPA. Art. 114, Ministerial Decision 26750, Gov. Gazette B’ 4852/4 November 2020. Article 101(1)(a) IPA. Article 106 ASYLUM CODE Article 82 and 103 IPA, as amended by L. 4686/2020 and Article 87 and 108 ASYLUM CODE 67