90  Eleni Koutsouraki j Indefinite Detention of Undesirable and Unreturnable TCNs in Greece the possibility of detaining a person on grounds of public order and public safety cannot be based on the Directive.20 In these terms, as stipulated in the Return Handbook established following a European Commission recommendation, the administrative detention on grounds of public order is not covered by the text of the Directive.21 The Handbook advises that Member States are not permitted to use immigration detention as a form of “light imprisonment”.22 Rather, the purpose of detention as provided by Article 15 of the Return Directive is “to assure that returnees do not undermine the execution of the obligation to return by absconding”.23 Detention cannot be used solely as a means of protecting society from persons that constitute a threat to public policy or security.24 According to the information received from the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police for the purposes of this article, the national security ground for detention was supposed to have been omitted since 2014.25 Thus, it is surprising that the Draft Law modifying Law 3907/2011 published in February 2016 does not provide any modification to this provision.26 The above-mentioned breach of EU law appears even more startling when it is considered alongside another, excessively strict, piece of administrative legislation which addresses the protection of society from dangerous TCNs through detention. The Law 3386/2005 permits the detention of TCNs in view of administrative expulsion if there is a risk of absconding, if they are considered a danger to public order or have been avoiding or obstructing the preparation of their departure or the procedure of their expulsion.27 This provision applies to persons who: 1. have been irrevocably sentenced to a prison sentence of at least 1 year or, irrespective of sentence, for a serious crime;28 20 CJEU, Said Shamilovich Kadzoev (Huchbarov), para. 70: “The possibility of detaining a person on grounds of public order and public safety cannot be based on Directive 2008/115. None of the circumstances mentioned by the referring court [aggressive conduct; no means of support; no accommodation] can therefore constitute in itself a ground for detention under the provisions of that directive.” 21 See European Commission, Commission Recommendation of 1.10.2015 Establishing a Common “Return Handbook” to be Used by Member States’ Competent Authorities when Carrying out Return Related Tasks, C(2015) 6250 final, 1 Oct. 2015; and the “Return Handbook”, in annex to the Commission Recommendation 78, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/europeanagenda-migration/proposal-implementation-package/docs/return_handbook_en.pdf (last visited 3 Dec. 2016). 22 “Return Handbook”, 78. 23 Ibid., 79. 24 Ibid. 25 E-mail correspondence in Jan. 2016 held on file with the author. 26 The Draft Law modifying Law 3907/2011 is available in Greek at: http://www.opengov.gr/ypes/? p¼3471 (last visited 3 Dec. 2016). 27 Art. 76(3) of the Law 3386/2005 on the entry, residence, and social integration of third-country nationals on Greek territory. 28 Crimes against the regime or treason, drug-related crimes, money laundering, international financial crimes, crimes with the use of high technology, currency-related crimes, resistance, child abduction, crimes against sexual freedom and economic exploitation of sexual life, theft, fraud, misappropriation, extortion, usury, violation of the law on intermediaries, forgery, false statement, slander, smuggling, crimes relating to weapons, antiquities, transfer of illegal immigrants to the mainland or facilitation of their transport or transfer or provision of accommodation thereto for hiding. Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/rsq/article-abstract/36/1/85/2888417 by Lancaster University user on 19 December 2017