Greece toughens its detention law for asylum seekers to a maximum of 18 months

Date: 
Friday, October 4, 2013

From now on, asylum seekers awaiting a decision on their application in Greece might be detained for up to 18 months. The provisions governing the maximum length of time by which asylum seekers' detention can be extended have recently been changed. It used to be the case that, in accordance with Article 13 in Presidential Decree 114/2010, the maximum duration of asylum seekers’ detention was of up to 90 days and, “If the applicant has been detained earlier in view of an administrative deportation order, the total detention time cannot exceed 180 days”. According to the new amendment, detention can be further prolonged by up to 12 months, by a police administrative decision. This change was brought about by the new Presidential Decree 116/2012, published in the Greek Government Gazette on 19 October 2012. The preamble of the new Presidential Decree states that this piece of legislation aims to harmonize the Greek legislation with the Council Directive 2005/85/EC on minimum standards for procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status.

For further information please visit:ECRE Weekly Bulletin 02 November 2012.

 


This item was reproduced with the permission of ECRE from the weekly ELENA legal update supported by the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Funding Programme and distributed by email. The purpose of these updates is to inform asylum lawyers and legal organizations supporting asylum seekers and refugees of recent developments in the field of asylum law. Please note that the information provided is taken from publicly available information on the internet. Every reasonable effort is made to make the content accurate and up to date at the time each item is published but no responsibility for its accuracy and correctness, or for any consequences of relying on it, is assumed by ECRE, the IRC or its partners.

                                                     

 

Keywords: 
Detention
Tags: 
Greece