2.2. Exemption from special procedures The Asylum Code does not provide for the exemption of vulnerable persons from special procedures as a rule (see Identification).728 Applicants in need of special procedural guarantees are only exempted from the Accelerated Procedure, the Border Procedure, and the Fast-Track Border Procedure where adequate support cannot be provided (see above). 729 Appeals Committees have continued to dismiss alleged infringements of Article 72(3) Asylum Code stemming from the failure of the Asylum Service to exempt the applicant from the fast-track border procedure, on the ground that the appellant has not demonstrated procedural damage (δικονομική βλάβη). The position of the Appeals Committees remains incompatible with the case law of administrative courts, according to which failure to refer such cases to the regular procedure unlawfully circumvents the special protection afforded by law to vulnerable groups. Illustrative of the above is a decision issued by the Supreme Administrative Court of Piraeus (decision Α65/2023) in the case of a vulnerable woman from Iraq, whose decision recognising her vulnerability and referring her to the normal procedure was not taken into consideration by the Asylum authorities, even though it was issued before the issuance of 1st instance decision rejecting her asylum application. According to the Court: the legislator establishes special treatment for applicants for international protection, who are proven to belong to the category of vulnerable persons. [...] the applicant's application for international protection was referred to the normal procedure, as it was judged that she [...] suffers from a mental illness. Both the Regional Asylum Office of Lesvos, which examined in first instance her application for the granting of international protection, issuing its decision [...] after the issuance of the above decision, as well as the Independent Appeals Authority that examined her appeal, should have refrained from issuing a decision and refer the case back to the competent authorities, in order to re-examine the asylum request, based on the guarantees of the normal procedure (longer deadline, possible search for legal assistance), after conducting a new interview of the applicant by an employee of the Asylum Service specialized in vulnerability issues [...].730 Unaccompanied children below the age of 15, as well as unaccompanied children who are victims of trafficking, torture, rape, or other forms of serious psychological, physical and sexual violence, are always processed under the regular procedure. 731 For those aged 15 or over who are not victims of trafficking, torture or violence, exemption from special procedures depends on the individual grounds applied by the authorities in each case:732 Exemption of unaccompanied children aged 15 or over from special procedures Accelerated procedure Ground Claim unrelated to protection Border and fast-track border procedures √ Ground Protection in another Member State √ Safe country of origin x First country of asylum √ False information or documents √ Safe third country X Destruction or disposal of documents √ Subsequent application X Clearly unconvincing application √ Application by dependant √ Subsequent application x Claim unrelated to the protection √ 728 729 730 731 732 Article 41 (d) Asylum Code provides that the determination of an applicant as vulnerable has the sole effect of triggering immediate care of particular reception, and Article 77 (3) Asylum Code adds ‘the provision of special procedural guarantees’. Article 72(3) Asylum Code. This provision clarifies that, where the applicant falls within the cases where appeals have no automatic suspensive effect, they must have access to interpretation services, legal assistance and at least one week to prepare the appeal (see also Border Procedure and Fast-Track Border Procedure). Decision A65/2023 of the Supreme Administrative Court of Pireus in GCR/HIAS/RSA, Δελτίο Νομολογίας Ασύλου 1/2023, June 2023, pp. 26-27, available at: https://bit.ly/4bbuWWd. The case was legally supported by GCR. Article 80(7) of the Asylum Code. Articles 88(10) and 95(4) of the Asylum Code. 146