The applicant should be provided with an effective opportunity to present all elements available to him or her which substantiate the application or are relevant for the procedures in accordance with this Regulation to the competent authorities. For this reason, the applicant should, subject to limited exceptions, enjoy the right to be heard through a personal interview on the admissibility or on the merits of his or her application, as appropriate. If the applicant is unfit to attend his or her personal interview, the authorities could ask for a medical certification to be provided by the applicant. For the right to a personal interview to be effective, the applicant should be assisted by an interpreter where necessary to ensure appropriate communication and be given the opportunity to provide his or her explanations concerning his or her application in a comprehensive manner. The applicant should be given sufficient time to prepare and consult with his or her legal adviser or other counsellor admitted or permitted as such under national law to provide legal advice(the ‘legal adviser’) or a person entrusted with providing legal counselling. During the interview, the applicant should be allowed to be assisted by the legal adviser. The personal interview should be conducted under conditions which ensure appropriate privacy and confidentiality and by adequately trained and competent staff, including where necessary, experts deployed by the Asylum Agency or staff from authorities of other Member States. Where the interview on the merits is omitted with a view to ensuring swift access to international protection, this should be without prejudice to the obligation to examine whether the applicant fulfils the conditions set out in to be granted refugee status before examining whether the applicant fulfils the conditions to be granted subsidiary protection. Given that the personal interview is an essential part of the examination of the application, the interview should be recorded and the applicants, their representatives and their legal advisers should be given access to the report or transcripts of that interview as soon as possible after it takes place and in any case in due time before the determining authority takes a decision.