4.4. Legal assistance Indicators: Border Procedure: Legal Assistance Same as regular procedure 1. Do asylum seekers have access to free legal assistance at first instance in practice? Yes With difficulty No v Does free legal assistance cover: Representation in interview Legal advice 2. Do asylum seekers have access to free legal assistance on appeal against a negative decision in practice? Yes With difficulty No v Does free legal assistance cover Representation in courts Legal advice The law does not contain special provisions regarding free legal assistance in the border procedure. The general provisions and practical limitations regarding legal aid are also applicable here (see section on Regular Procedure: Legal Assistance). 5. Fast-track border procedure (Eastern Aegean islands) 5.1. General (scope, time limits) Indicators: Fast-track border procedure: General 1. Do border authorities receive written instructions on the referral of asylum seekers to the competent authorities? Yes No 2. Can an application made at the border be examined in substance during a border procedure? Yes No 3. 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? 7 days Although the fast-track border procedure was initially introduced as an exceptional and temporary procedure, it has become the rule for a significant number of applications lodged in Greece. In December 2023, the total number of applications (first time and subsequent) lodged before the RAOs of Lesvos, Samos, Chios, Leros and Kos was 4,258, 63% of the total number of applications lodged in Greece in the same month.516 Data on the total number of applications lodged before all islands’ RAOs in 2023 have not been provided by the MoMA. Only monthly records of asylum applications lodged before each island’s RAO are available at the MoMA’s website. The impact of the EU-Türkiye Statement has been, inter alia, a de facto dichotomy of the asylum procedures applied in Greece.517 This is because the fast-track procedure is only applied in cases of applicants subject to the EU-Türkiye Statement, i.e., applicants who arrived on the Greek Eastern Aegean islands after 20 March 2016 and have lodged applications before the RAO of Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Leros and Kos. Moreover, in 2023, asylum seekers that arrived in Rhodes were transferred inter alia to Leros and Kos CCACs and lodged applications before Leros and Kos RAOs, respectively, channeled therefore into fasttrack border procedures despite having arrived on another island.518 It should be noted that no reception conditions had been provided in Rhodes during the waiting period for their transfer. 516 517 518 MoMA, Statistics, Consolidated Reports - Overview: December 2023 - International Protection | Appendix A, available at: https://tinyurl.com/yc2stzh7, table 8b. GCR, Submission of the Greek Council for Refugees to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in the case of M.S.S. v. Belgium & Greece (Appl. No 30696/09) and related case, 9 May 2019, available at: https://bit.ly/2XYhHpj. Ertnews, Συνεχίζεται η μεταφορά προσφύγων από Ρόδο προς τις δομές Κω και Λέρου – Πάνω από 4.000 οι φιλοξενούμενοι, 22 September 2023, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/3ykvddaa. 111