Accelerated procedure

Author

Greek Council for Refugees Visit Website

General (scope, grounds for accelerated procedures, time limits)

The Asylum Code provides that the basic principles and guarantees applicable to the regular procedure also apply in the accelerated procedure and that “the accelerated procedure shall have as a sole effect to reduce the time limits”.[1] The law does not provide for a general exemption of vulnerable applicants from the accelerated procedure. The only exception regards UAM under the age of 15 who may be subjected to the accelerated procedure only under conditions (see further bellow).The wording of the law remains misleading, considering that the accelerated procedure entails exceptions from automatic suspensive effect and thereby applicants’ right to remain on the territory. According to Article 88(4) Asylum Code, the examination of an application under the accelerated procedure must be concluded within 20 days, subject to the possibility of a 10-day exception.

The Asylum Service is in charge of issuing first instance decisions for both regular and accelerated procedures. An application is being examined under the accelerated procedure when:[2]

• the applicant during the submission of his/her application invoked reasons that manifestly do not meet the conditions of the status of refugee or of subsidiary protection;
• the applicant comes from a Safe Country of Origin;
• the applicant has misled the authorities by presenting false information or documents or by withholding relevant information or documents regarding his/her identity and/or nationality which could adversely affect the decision;
• the applicant has likely destroyed or disposed in bad faith of documents of identity or travel which would help determine his/her identity or nationality;
• the applicant has presented manifestly inconsistent or contradictory information, manifestly lies or manifestly gives improbable information, or information which is contrary to adequately substantiated information on his or her country of origin which renders his or her statements of fearing persecution unconvincing;
• the applicant submitted a subsequent application;
• the applicant has submitted the application only to delay or impede the enforcement of an earlier or imminent deportation decision or removal by other means;
• the applicant entered the country “illegally” (sic) or he/she prolongs “illegally” his/her stay and without good reason, he/she did not present himself/herself to the authorities or he/she did not submit an asylum application as soon as possible, given the circumstances of his/her entrance;
• the applicant refuses to comply with the obligation to have his or her fingerprints taken in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 603/2013.
• the applicant may be considered on serious grounds as a threat to the public order or national security; or
• the applicant refuses to comply with the obligation to have his or her fingerprints taken according to the legislation

Exceptionally, asylum applications of unaccompanied minors shall be examined in accordance with the accelerated procedure only if:[3]

1. the unaccompanied minor comes from a country included in the list of safe countries of origin pursuant to par. Article 92 of the Asylum Code; or
2. the unaccompanied minor has submitted a subsequent application and the preliminary examination, pursuant to par. 2 of Article 94 of the Asylum Code, has not shown the existence of new essential elements; or
3. the unaccompanied minor is considered, for serious reasons, to be a danger to the national security or public order of the Member State, or has been forcibly removed for serious reasons of national security or public order.

In 2023, 5,167 asylum applications – examined under an accelerated procedure – were rejected at first instance.[4]

Personal interview

The conduct of the personal interview does not differ depending on whether the accelerated or regular procedure is applied (see section on Regular Procedure: Personal Interview).

Appeal

Since the entry into force of the IPA, the time limit for lodging an appeal against a decision in the accelerated procedure is 20 days,[5] as opposed to 30 days in the regular procedure. The Appeals Committee must reach a decision on the appeal within 20 days of the examination.[6]

Appeals in the accelerated procedure in principle do not have automatic suspensive effect (see Suspensive Effect).[7] The Appeals Committee decides on appeals in the accelerated procedure and on appeals against manifestly unfounded applications in single-judge format.[8]

In 2023, 3,442 negative decisions were issued at second instance – rejected as manifestly unfounded (safe country of origin).[9]

Legal assistance

The same legal provisions and practice apply to both the regular and the accelerated procedure (see Regular Procedure: Legal Assistance).

[1] Art. 88 (2) Asylum Code.

[2] Art. 88 (9) Asylum Code.

[3] Art 88(10) Asylum Code.

[4] MoMA, Statistics, Consolidated Reports – Overview: December 2023 – International Protection | Appendix A, available at: https://tinyurl.com/yc2stzh7.

[5] Article 97(1)(b) Asylum Code.

[6] Article 106(1)(b) Asylum Code.

[7] Article 110(2)(e) Asylum Code, citing Article 88 (9) & (10) Asylum Code.

[8] Article 116(7) IPA that remains in force according to Article 148(a) Asylum Code.

[9] MoMA, Statistics, Consolidated Reports – Overview: December 2023 – International Protection | Appendix A, available at: https://tinyurl.com/yc2stzh7, table 9b.