By decision of the plenary session Council of State (Co), it was judged, by a majority, in closed doors of conference, that the Joint Ministerial Decision (JMD) that characterizes a safe country in Turkey For asylum seekers it was canceled.
According to a statement by the President of the Council of State, “a joint ministerial decision must be annulled 538595/12.12.2023, in so far as it relates to the designation of Turkey as a safe third country for applicants for international protection with a country of origin in Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Pakistan.
The Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the Joint Ministerial Decision had not sufficient documentation for this designation and had a majority in its cancellation.
For as long as Turkey refuses to return to its territory, asylum seekers, demands of those who have a country of origin in Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Somalia cannot be rejected by the Greek authorities as unacceptable but must be considered.
Asylum seekers from these five countries will no longer be promoted to Turkey, from which they crossed the Greek border, but each case will be examined individually. Thus, applicants for international protection will either remain in our country or promoted in their country of origin.
The issue in question was discussed before the plenary session of the Council of State on 7 February 2025.
What was judged in the closed doors conferences
The Plenary of the Council of State on February 27, 2025, met at a conference on five cases concerning the drawing up of a national list of secure third countries involving Turkey as a safe third country for applicants for international protection with a country of origin in Syria, Afghanistan, Afghanistan Appeals, which rejected as unacceptable requests for the granting of international protection by calling for the designation of Turkey as a safe third country.
The Council of State considered by a majority, according to the announcement of the CoE President, Michalis Pikranou, that “from the details of the dossier accompanying 538595/12.12.2023 Joint Decision of the Ministers 4939/2022 […]”(B 7063) and, in particular, the recommendation of the asylum administrator, it does not appear that for the designation of Turkey as a safe third country for the aforementioned aliens categories of aliens, the criteria referred to in Article 91 of Law 4939/2022 (Article 38 of the EU) (Article 38).
This is because the recommendation with the attached annex is limited to the quotation of the texts of the international sources taken into account, without specifically the information contained in the sources in relation to the lawful criteria, in order to substantiate the assistance of legal conditions for the designation.
For this reason, the Court ruled that the above 538595/12.12.2023 Joint Ministerial Decision should be annulled, in so far as it relates to the designation of Turkey as a safe third country for applicants for international protection with a country of origin in Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh.
In addition, the Court unanimously ruled that “the individual decisions of the Independent Appeals Committees must be annulled, which rejected the demands of international protection of applicants for foreign Afghan nationality, on the grounds that they entered Greece from Turkey, which is a safe country.
This is because, as long as it comes from the dossier, Turkey has generally suspended the readiness of applicants for international protection in its territory since March 2020, by the competent Greek authorities, as accepted by the decision of the TSE. of 4.10.2024 in Case C-134/23, may not reject international protection applications as unacceptable under Article 33 (2). c) of Directive 2013/32/EU and the corresponding provision of national law, on the grounds that Turkey is a safe third country. “