1.4.2. Judicial review Applicants for international protection may lodge an application for annulment (αίτηση ακύρωσης) of a second instance decision of the Appeals Committees solely before the Administrative Court of First Instance of Athens or Thessaloniki,458 within 30 days from the notification of the decision. 459 According to the IPA,460 following the lodging of the application for annulment, an application for suspension/interim order can be filed. The decision on this single application for temporary protection from removal should be issued within 15 days from the lodging of the application. The effectiveness of these legal remedies is severely undermined by a number of practical and legal obstacles: ❖ The application for annulment and application for suspension/interim order can only be filed by a lawyer. In addition, no legal aid is provided in order to challenge a second instance negative decision. The capacity of NGOs to file such applications is very limited due to high legal fees. The fees for filing an application for annulment varies between 257,80 euros to 318,55 euros, while the fees for filing an application for suspension varies between 145,40 euros to 198,35 euros, depending on the employment status of the lawyer. An additional financial burden required for the hearing of the application for suspension is the notification of the application to the Minister of Migration and Asylum, performed by a bailiff and amounting to 43,40 euros. Additionally, when it comes to the hearing of the application for annulment, if the applicant is not present at the hearing, the submission of a proxy is required, which costs approx. 60-65 euros. Legal aid may only be requested under the general provisions of Greek law,461 which are in any event not tailored to asylum applicants and cannot be accessed by them in practice due to several obstacles. For example, the request for legal aid is submitted by an application written in Greek; free legal aid is granted only if the legal remedy for which the legal assistance is requested is not considered “manifestly inadmissible” or “manifestly unfounded”. 462 As noted by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention “[i]nadequate legal aid is provided for challenging a second instance negative decision on an asylum application, and the capacity of NGOs to file this application is very limited given the number of persons in need of international protection”.463 ❖ The application for annulment and application for suspension/interim order do not have an automatic suspensive effect.464 Therefore between the submission of an application for suspension/interim order and the in-merit decision of the court, there is no guarantee that the applicant will not be removed from the territory. ❖ The Administrative Court can only examine the legality of the decision and not the merits of the case. ❖ The judicial procedure is lengthy. GCR is aware of cases pending for a period of about two years for the issuance of a decision of the Administrative Court of Appeals following an application for annulment. Moreover, according to Article 114(2) of the Asylum Code, the Minister on Migration and Asylum also has the right to lodge an application for annulment against the decisions of the Appeals Committee before the Administrative Court. In 2020, the Minister on Migration and Asylum lodged one application for annulment against a second instance decision of the Appeals Committees. The Appeals Committee rejected the Minister’s appeal and ruled that an applicant for whom a decision to discontinue the examination of the asylum application due to implicit withdrawal has been issued, cannot be removed before the nine months period during which she can report again to the competent authority in order to request her case be reopened. The Minister appealed to the Council of State which, on 27 June 2022, issued decision No. 1398/2022, accepting the Minister’s application for annulment. 465 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 Article 114 Asylum Code with reference to Article 15(4) L. 3068/2002 Article 115 Asylum Code. Article 15(6) L 3068/2002, as amended by Article 115 IPA. Articles 276 and 276A Code of Administrative Procedure. Ibid. UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Addendum: Mission to Greece, A/HRC/45/16/Add.1, 29 July 2020, available here, para. 85. See, e.g., ECtHR, M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece, application No 30696/09, Judgment of 21 January 2011. Council of State, Decision No. 1398/2022, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/2cwxtf2v. 88