Our Actions
Community outreach involves providing professional services, or specific expertise, to a group of people who may not otherwise have access to it. It is performed where those in need are located. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile.
Areas of intervention
Hotline and legal clinics
Hotline
A hotline, available from 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday, enables direct contact to be made with ELA lawyers and jurists, if necessary with the assistance of an interpreter. After an initial assessment, the case is assigned to a lawyer for further handling.
Legal clinics
Legal clinics are organised near refugee camps several times a month. Two lawyers and two interpreters are mobilised to attend and provide individual consultations. It is the regularity and reliability of this presence that enables the most isolated and vulnerable applicants to access legal assistance.
A case-oriented approach
Legal assistance covers a wide range of services, from the provision of general legal information to representation in court. First, it means providing legal advice and guidance to a person according to their individual circumstances. Beyond the initial legal assistance, representation may be necessary after a negative decision when the case goes to court. In general, legal assistance and representation follow a case-oriented approach.
Representation and litigation
INDIVIDUAL CONSULTATION
Individual consultations and legal support during asylum procedures
INTERVIEW PREPARATION
Applicants receive structured preparation and legal guidance ahead of asylum interviews.
COURT REPRESENTATION
Representation in appeals and pleadings before the courts of Athens and Thessaloniki
CONTINUED SUPPORT
We maintain legal representation through litigation until a final decision is issued.
Advocacy
Participation in several networks of national and European experts, conferences and seminars
Publication of reports documenting and denouncing rights violations and written contributions to stakeholders
Defending the rights of displaced persons through strategic litigation
Strategic litigation involves the careful selection of a case and the development of a legal strategy to challenge recurring systemic violations of rights and to promote their affirmation, respect and fulfilment. Litigation is strategic when it advances not just the rights of an individual, but the rights of many, with broader social changes.
Communication
Weekly communication on social media
A bimonthly newsletter providing expert analysis of relevant news stories
Communication campaigns to reinforce our message and mobilise public opinion.
Strategic litigation involves the careful selection of a case and the development of a legal strategy to challenge recurring systemic violations of rights and to promote their affirmation, respect and fulfilment. Litigation is strategic when it advances not just the rights of an individual, but the rights of many, with broader social changes.