of the applicant for special procedural guarantees, where the first instance authority concluded that they are not vulnerable.425 Form of the Appeal According to Article 98 Asylum Code, the appeal, inter alia, has to be submitted in writing and mention the “specific grounds” on which the applicant relies to challenge the first instance decision. If these conditions are not fulfilled, the appeal is rejected as inadmissible without an examination on the merits. This provision has been largely criticised as it severely restricts access to the appeal procedure in practice, and appears to contradict EU law.426 As noted by UNHCR at the time of the provision’s introduction in law in 2019 (under Article 93 IPA), “[i]n some circumstances, it would be so difficult to appeal against a rejection that the right to an effective remedy enshrined in international and EU law, would be seriously compromised”.427 In practice, the requirements set by the Asylum Code (and previously by the IPA) can only be fulfilled when a lawyer assists the applicant. Yet considering the gaps in the provision of free legal aid, this remains a challenge. Out of the total 12,039 appeals against first instance negative decisions submitted in 2024,428 legal aid was provided in less than two out of three cases (total of 7,902 429 cases or roughly 65.63% of cases). 430 Since it is unlikely that a third of appellants (4,137 or 34.36%) had either sufficient funds to secure a private lawyer and/or received free legal aid by NGOs, as in previous years,431 this discrepancy highlights the ongoing challenges that applicants face in accessing and securing state funded free legal aid and in turn in accessing effective remedies. According to publicly available data on the MoMA’s website,432 a total of 78 appeals were rejected as inadmissible on formal grounds («τυπικοί λόγοι») during 2024. Suspensive effect The Asylum Code provides for the suspensive effect of appeals before the Appeals Authority. It also introduces a number of exceptions to this rule. In particular, those concerning applications rejected in the accelerated procedure or dismissed as inadmissible under certain grounds. In such cases, the appellant may submit an application before the Appeals Committees, requesting their stay in the country until the second-instance appeal decision is issued. Suspensive effect covers the period “during the time limit provided for an appeal and until the notification of the decision on the appeal”. 433 More precisely, according to Article 110 Asylum Code, 434 the appeal does not have an automatic suspensive effect in case of an appeal against a first instance decision rejecting the application as inadmissible: i) because another EU Member State has granted international protection status; ii) because another State, bound by Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council, has taken responsibility for the examination of the application for international protection, pursuant to the Regulation iii) by virtue of the first country of asylum concept; 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 6th Appeals Committee, Decision 2411/2019, 28 February 2020, para 10; 6th Appeals Committee, Decision 30955/2020, 18 May 2021, para II.4. Namely Article 46 of the recast Asylum Procedures Directive and Article 47 of the EU Charter of Fundamental rights. UNHCR, UNHCR urges Greece to strengthen safeguards in draft asylum law, 24 October 2019, available here. MoMA, Statistics, Consolidated Reports - Overview: December 2024 – International Protection | Appendix A, available in Greek here, table 9a. It is also worth noting that according to the data provided by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, in response to Parliamentary Question no 3383/838/13.02.2025, 7,491 persons applied for legal aid in 2024, while 7,902 persons received it. As per information disclosed by the Minister of Migration and Asylum in reply to parliamentary question no. 3383/838/13.02.2025 on 7 March 2025. The reply is available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/2xwpkare. For instance, AIDA report on Greece: 2021 update, May 2022, available here, 20 and AIDA report on Greece: 2022 update, June 2023, available here, 71. MoMA, Statistics, Consolidated Reports - Overview: December 2024 - International Protection | Appendix A, available in Greek here, table 8b. Article 110(1) Asylum Code. Article 104 L. 4636/2019 as amended by Article 20 L. 4825/2021 and Article 110 Asylum Code. 84