Moreover, in 2022 a significant number of asylum applicants continued to report that, during their interview, they were not granted sufficient time and, as a result, their asylum claims were not examined thoroughly. An additional issue relates to the fact that the caseworkers do not follow a standard procedure on the examination of allegations regarding previous pushbacks that are being mentioned during the asylum interview. According to lawyers, in certain cases the caseworkers disregard allegations, claiming that they are not relevant to the interview, while other caseworkers proceed to further investigate the incidents by asking focused questions. In 2022 the issue of the use of outdated sources in a number of decisions for cases especially concerning the examination of the safe third country concept vis-a-vis Türkiye still remains. Additionally, in a number of cases, an absence of country-of-origin information with regard to the examination of the merits of the applications was noted (such as absence of sources regarding gender-based violence, honour crimes and persecution of rare ethnic origin groups in the country of origin). 5.3. Appeal Indicators: Fast-track border procedure: Appeal Same as regular procedure 1. Does the law provide for an appeal against the decision in the accelerated procedure? Yes No ❖ If yes, is it Judicial Administrative ❖ If yes, is it suspensive Yes Some grounds No In 2022, a total of 1,880 appeals were lodged on the islands against first instance decisions by the Asylum Service. Changes in the Appeals Committees As noted in the Regular procedure, according to Article 116 IPA (that remains in force after the publication of the Asylum Code),425 the Appeals Committees shall consist of three judges and the Independent Appeal Committees may operate in a single or three-member composition. Rules and time limits for appeal Similar to the first instance fast-track border procedure, truncated time limits are also foreseen in the appeal stage. In particular, the deadline for appealing a negative decision is 10 days, instead of the 30 days deadline foreseen in the regular procedure. 426 The Appeals Committee examining the appeal must make a decision within 7 days,427 contrary to 30 days in the regular procedure. 428 In practice, this very short deadline is difficult for the Appeals Committees to meet, while it raises serious concerns over the quality of the decisions issued. As a rule, the procedure before the Appeals Committees must be written, based on the examination of the dossier, except from cases, provided by the article 102(3) Asylum Code, where the Appeals Committee decides to call for an oral hearing. 429 As far as the appeal procedure is concerned, apart from the concerns related to the admissibility of appeals in general (see Regular Procedure) it shall be noted that it is practically impossible for the applicants to submit an appeal on their own –without legal aid–. Specifically, Article 98 of the Asylum Code requires, for the appeal to be admissible, inter alia, reference and development of specified reasons for the appeal. At the same time, the negative decisions are served to the applicants in Greek, so it is 425 426 427 428 429 Article 148 Asylum Code. Article 95(3)(c) Asylum Code. Article 95(3)(c) Asylum Code. Article 106(1)(a) Asylum Code. Article 102(3) Asylum Code. 99