Ministers issue new Joint Ministerial Decision on legal counselling in the administrative procedure

On 30 June 2026, the Ministers of National Economy and Finance; Justice; and Immigration and Asylum issued a Joint Ministerial Decision (120961/2026) on the provision of legal guidance in the context of the administrative procedure for the assessment of applications for international protection.   

The decision also covers issues of the Registry of Legal Counsels and procedural details for the implementation of Articles 102 and 219 of Law No 5307/2026 in accordance with Article 16 of the Asylum Procedures Regulation and Article 21 of the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation.  

The Joint Ministerial Decision comprises the following 16 Articles: 

• Article 1 specifies the conditions under which legal counselling is provided.
• Article 2 specifies the content of legal counselling.
• Article 3 establishes the registry of lawyers for legal counselling.
• Article 4 describes the eligibility criteria for inclusion in the registry as well as the conditions for deletion from the registry.
• Article 5 provides for specialised training seminars.
• Article 6 regulates the procedural details for the provision of legal counselling.
• Article 7 regulates matter for the provision of legal counselling to unaccompanied minors.
• Article 8 provides for legal counselling after the lodging of an application.
• Article 9 regulates matters related to the compensation of legal counsellors.
• Article 10 specifies the covering of costs associated with the provision of legal counselling.
• Article 11 details the process and the documentation needed for the payment of lawyers providing legal counselling.
• Article 12 regulates issues of confidentiality and conflict of interest.
• Article 13 refers to issues of oversight and assessment of lawyers providing legal counselling.
• Article 14 regulates matters of counselling in the context of Article 261 of law 5307/2026. 
• Article 15 regulates the provision of legal counselling from legal counsellors from international organisations.
• And Article 16 specifies the entry into force of the Joint Ministerial Decision. 

The full text of the decision is available here (in Greek).