document, this text only provides generic information on the the rejection/does not explain the precise reasons for which the application has been rejected, therefore making it impossible for them to read and be aware of the exact reasons for which their asylum application has been rejected. It is evident that, without legal, aid applicants cannot adequately articulate the legal and factual grounds on which their appeals are based, particularly taking into consideration the requirement that such appeals be submitted in Greek. The provisions of the Asylum Code relating to the fictitious service (πλασματική επίδοση) of first instance decisions are also applicable to the fast-track border procedure and thus the deadline for lodging an appeal against a first instance negative decision may expire without the applicant having been actually informed about the decision.564 Asylum applicants in Kos, Lesvos, Samos and Chios, were invited in RAOs to sign a "declaration of email address for communication with the asylum service", in which, among other things, the applicant who gives his/her e-mail address and confirms the following statement: 'I wish this address to be used for my communication with the Asylum Service (information, appointment, service of decisions, etc. documents, etc.)’. The information on the above was provided to the applicants with the assistance of an interpreter. Paragraph 3 of Article 87 Asylum Code stipulates that "The service of the decision to the applicant shall be carried out (....) or (c) by e-mail to an address indicated by the applicant to the Reception and Identification Service or the Asylum Service or to an address indicated by his/her attorney or authorized counsel or representative or (....). Paragraph 4 of the same article states that "In case the applicant is a detainee or remains in Regional Reception and Identification Services or resides in Reception or Accommodation Centres, the rejection decision or the extract of the operative part of the decision granting international protection status and the accompanying explanatory document of the third part of paragraph 3 shall be sent by any appropriate means to the Head of the Centre or establishment or facility concerned, who shall ensure that a notice of receipt and the times of delivery and distribution of the documents to applicants are posted immediately for each working day and time, in conspicuous places in the premises, and shall draw up an acknowledgement of receipt and post it. Applicants shall ensure that they arrive at the centre within the hours of delivery and distribution of correspondence in order to be served with the relevant mail. A delivery report shall be drawn up for each delivery to the applicant. Service shall be deemed to have been effected after the expiry of three (3) days from the date on which relevant act of receipt referred to in the first subparagraph was drawn.” Taking into consideration the above legal provisions, the Greek Ombudsman intervened with regard to the “Service of asylum decisions by e-mail to residents in the Kos CCAC”,565 and clarified that article 87 Asylum Code clearly provides that the scope of application introduced by the legislator with paragraph 4 is more specific than that of paragraph 3, providing for the service of decisions on applicants who reside in the structures of the Reception and Identification Service (RIS), such as the CCACs. Namely, the Ombudsman noted that the law does not allow the administration to derogate from the application of the provisions of paragraph 4 of Article 87, through the signing of declarations by residents that they will be served with the decisions by e-mail. Finally, it is crucial for the respect of the right to an effective remedy, in the event of non-application of the above provisions, the time limit for lodging an appeal to begin at least from the time when the applicant has demonstrably become aware of the decision. In Lesvos, Kos and Chios, since approximately the second quarter of 2022, an order for voluntary departure from the country - with a seven-day deadline or a 25-day deadline- was incorporated in the first instance negative decisions issued by the RAO.566 In practice, a seven-day deadline is given with the “rejected as inadmissible” - first instance negative decisions, while a 25-day deadline is given with the 564 565 566 Article 87 and 108 Asylum Code. The Intervention of the Greek Ombudsman (no. 346822/2413/16-01-2024) following a legal NGO’s report was shared within the context of the Athens Legal Aid Working Group, 23 January 2024. Information acquired during the Lesvos LAsWG meeting, 28 June 2022, from the GCR lawyer based in Kos, and during GCR mission to Chios and visits to Chios RAO and Police Station, 24-26 May 2022. 121