4. Border procedure (border and transit zones) 4.1. General (scope, time limits) Indicators: Border Procedure: General 1. Do border authorities receive written instructions on the referral of asylum seekers to the competent authorities? Yes No 2. Where is the border procedure mostly carried out? Air border Land border Sea border 3. Can an application made at the border be examined in substance during a border procedure? Yes No 4. Is there a maximum time limit for a first instance decision laid down in the law? Yes No v If yes, what is the maximum time limit? 28 days 5. Is the asylum seeker considered to have entered the national territory during the border procedure? Yes No There are two different types of border procedures in Greece. The first will be cited here as the “normal border procedure” and the second as the “fast-track border procedure”. In the second case, many of the rights of asylum seekers are severely restricted, as it will be explained in the section on Fast-Track Border Procedure. Article 95 Asylum Code establishes the border procedure, limiting its applicability to admissibility or to the substance of claims processed under an accelerated procedure.509 In the “normal border procedure”, where applications for international protection are submitted in transit zones of ports or airports, asylum seekers enjoy the same rights and guarantees as those whose applications are lodged in the mainland.510 However, deadlines are shorter: for example, when an appeal is lodged, its examination can be carried out, at the earliest, five days after its submission.511 According to Article 70 Asylum Code, the Asylum Service, in cooperation with the authorities operating in detention facilities and at Greek border entry points and/or civil society organisations, shall ensure the provision of information on the possibility to submit an application for international protection. Interpretation services shall also be provided to the extent that this is necessary for the facilitation of access to the asylum procedure. Organisations and persons providing advice and counselling, shall have effective access, unless there are reasons related to national security, or public order or reasons that are determined by the administrative management of the border crossing point concerned and impose the limitation of such access. Such limitations must not result in access being rendered impossible. Where no decision on an asylum application lodged a border entry point is taken within 28 days, the applicant is allowed entry into the Greek territory for their application to be examined according to the provisions concerning the Regular Procedure.512 During this 28-day period, applicants remain de facto in detention (see Grounds for Detention). In practice, the above-mentioned procedure is only applied in airport transit zones. In particular to people arriving at Athens International Airport – usually through a transit flight – who do not have a valid entry authorization and apply for asylum at the airport. With a Police Circular of 18 June 2016 communicated to all police authorities, instructions were provided inter alia as to the procedure to be followed when a third-country national remaining in a detention centre or a RIC wishes to apply for international protection, which includes persons subject to the border procedure.513 509 510 511 512 513 Article 95(1) Asylum Code Articles 51, 74, 76, και 80 Asylum Code Article 100 (2) c Asylum Code Art. 95(2) Asylum Code. Police Circular No 1604/16/1195968/18-6-2016, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/ye85mfbc. . 109