Extreme discrepancies in the in the workings of available mechanisms of judicial review of detention are now a systematic phenomenon in Greece. The administrative courts quashed more than two out of five detention orders challenged before them through objections, yet found less than 1% of orders they reviewed ex officio to be unlawful. Rate of detention orders quashed upon judicial review: 2025 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 Quashed Upheld 3000 3500 4000 4500 Objections Ex officio Source: Ministry of Justice, Reply to parliamentary question, 2 Mar 2026 We highlight yet again the pressing need for free legal assistance to people subject to immigration detention and for an in-depth evaluation of the manifestly ineffective ex officio review of detention by the courts. Detention conditions 1,995 people were held in immigration detention at the end of 2025. Of those, 1,971 were detained in six pre-removal detention centres (PRDC) in mainland Greece,10 and another 204 were detained in police stations throughout the country. These numbers represent an increase compared to the number of people detained in PRDC and police stations at the end of 2024. 10 Hellenic Police statistics do not mention the number of people detained in the PRDC Kos operating within CCAC Kos or in the Special Detention Facility operating inside the Controlled Temporary Reception Centre (CTRC) of Sintiki. RSA POLICY NOTE │ IMMIGRATION DETENTION | MAR 2026 8