According to the Asylum code, applications for international protection are declared inadmissible where the Dublin Regulation applies.507 An applicant can lodge an appeal before the Independent Appeals Committees under the Appeals Authority against a first instance decision rejecting an application as inadmissible due to the application of the Dublin Regulation within 15 days. 508 Such an appeal can also be directed against the transfer decision, which is incorporated in the inadmissibility decision. 509 2.5. Legal assistance Indicators: Dublin: Legal Assistance Same as regular procedure 1. Do asylum applicants 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 applicants have access to free legal assistance on appeal against a Dublin decision in practice? Yes With difficulty No ❖ Does free legal assistance cover Representation in courts Legal advice Access to free legal assistance and representation in the context of a Dublin procedure is available under the same conditions and limitations described in Regular Procedure: Legal Assistance. No state funded free legal aid is provided in first instance, including Dublin cases. The same problems and obstacles described in the regular procedure exist in the context of the Dublin procedure, with NGOs trying in practice to cover this field as well. As concerns family reunification cases, limited access to legal assistance affects the proper preparation of the case file as it is the applicant who bears the responsibility for submitting the required documents for the Dublin Unit to establish a take charge request, such as proof of family links. Nevertheless, in GCR’s experience, the Dublin Unit officers make every effort to notify applicants on time for the submission of any missing document before the expiry of the deadline. 2.6. Suspension of transfers Indicators: Dublin: Suspension of Transfers 1. Are Dublin transfers systematically suspended as a matter of policy or jurisprudence to one or more countries? Yes No ❖ If yes, to which country or countries? To the knowledge of the GRC, there is no suspension of transfers to any Member State in either policy or jurisprudence. In some other Member States, transfers of asylum applicants to Greece are suspended in a few cases as a matter of policy, or either generally or in individual cases by jurisprudence (see Asylum information database, and information below under Situation of Dublin returnees). 2.7. The situation of Dublin returnees Transfers of asylum applicants from another Member State to Greece under the Dublin Regulation were suspended from 2011 to 2017, following the M.S.S. v. Belgium & Greece ruling of the ECtHR and the Joined Cases C-411/10 and C-493/10 N.S. v. Secretary of State for the Home Department ruling of the CJEU.510 Following three recommendations issued to Greece in the course of 2016, 511 and despite the fact that the Greek asylum and reception system remained under significant pressure, due to the closure of the so-called Balkan corridor and the adoption of the EU-Türkiye Statement, the European Commission 507 508 509 510 511 Article 89(1) (b) asylum code. Article 97 (1) (d)(i) asylum code. Ibid. ECtHR, M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece, Application No. 30696/09, Judgment of 21 January 2011; CJEU, Joined Cases C-411/10 and C-493/10 N.S. v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, Judgment of 21 December 2011. Commission Recommendation of 10 February 2016, C(2016) 871; Commission Recommendation of 15 June 2016, C(2016) 2805; Commission Recommendation of 28 September 2016, C(2016) 6311. 100