Interpol is the “International Criminal Police Organisation” formed from 196 member countries. They police by sharing and accessing data on crimes and criminals. Their headquarters is in Lyon, France.
Each country has their own Interpol National Central Bureau (NCB) which acts as the central point of contact.
INTERPOL was founded in 1923 to foster and facilitate international police co-operation. The existence of INTERPOL was to reduce barriers to policing across borders by building an exchange of information and intelligence.
The main objective of Interpol is to assist policing: pursue individuals who have left the country and they have alleged to have committed a crime.
INTERPOL is an ‘inter-governmental’ organisation; it only operates through the co-operation of its members, who each pay a financial contribution but do not cede any authority to INTERPOL.
It is important not to mistake INTERPOL for a ‘supranational’ organisation such as the EU, where a degree of authority is conferred from a state to the collective body.
Because INTERPOL is ‘inter-governmental’ and not ‘supranational’, INTERPOL itself does not have policing autonomy.
INTERPOL cannot compel a member country to arrest, nor can it arrest of its own accord. Instead, INTERPOL alerts its members of other members requests. It does this via the ‘notice system.’
The notice system was created to share critical crime-related information. The types of notices are:
| Red Notice | Wanted person with a view to extradite |
| Yellow Notice | Missing person |
| Blue Notice | Information on a person requested |
| Black Notice | Request to identify bodies |
| Green Notice | Warnings & intelligence |
| Orange Notice | Imminent threat of harm |
| Purple Notice | Modus Operandi request |
| Interpol Security Council | Groups and Individuals subject to UNSC Sanction |
Although INTERPOL will provide active police services at a state’s request, the largest function of INTERPOL is the raising of ‘notices’. There are many types of INTERPOL notice, each accorded a colour. For the purposes of criminal investigation, the primary notice type of relevance is the ‘Red Notice’.
Overwhelmingly the most frequent, a Red Notice is a request from a member country to INTERPOL for the location or arrest of a fugitive wanted for a crime or sentencing. INTERPOL will then circulate the notice with member countries. Typically anyone sought on a Red Notice will not be aware of a red notice being issued and can face extradition.
A red notice can have affect upon:
In 2023, questions were raised over potential abuse of the Red Notice system. In some cases, innocents were improperly placed on the Red List by member countries hoping to curtail their international movements. Red Notices are checked by INTERPOL before being published but with a high volume of Red Notice requests, such checks can be superficial and let incorrect requests through. It is therefore crucial that anyone who finds they are placed on the Red Notice list take immediate legal advice from experienced professionals to reduce their risk of being arrested upon international travel.
Other notices include the Blue Notice and the Green Notice, which request further information about an individual in relation to criminal activity and warn member countries of an individual’s criminal activity respectively. Though not as immediate as a Red Notice, both notices cause friction between an individual and their travel plans. As such, legal advice is advised.
A Diffusion operates in much the same way as a notice. A member country will notify INTERPOL that a fugitive is wanted for a crime and request an arrest. However, unlike a Red Notice, a Red Diffusion is not sent to INTERPOL for circulation but is rather administered through INTERPOL’s communication channels by the original member country. Since the effect is largely the same as a Red Notice, it is equally important that wrongly administered Diffusions are challenged.
Some Red Notices are published on the INTERPOL website and will give a rough overview of the crimes for which a fugitive is wanted.
However, the website is not a conclusive list; there are Red Notices which go unpublished and are viewable only by INTERPOL networks.
A Diffusion will never be published on the website, though it will be viewable on INTERPOL networks.
You may be able to make use of data protection laws to check whether you are on the Red Notice list and you are also able to check with INTERPOL directly. Liaising with a legal representative is the most effective way of achieving this.
Since a Notice or Diffusion can place strict restrictions on someone’s movement, swift challenge of the restriction is clearly important. If one suspects that they will be placed on the Notice list, it is possible to persuade INTERPOL not to publish the notice by pre-engaging with them. This avoids the negative effects of a Notice before they can come to bear.
If you believe you may be on the Notice or Diffusion list, there are three broad methods to challenge:
Each of these options require compliance with an array of very complex INTERPOL tests, the failure of which will render any representation ineffective. Legal representatives can draft compliant representations and advise the most likely avenue for success.
INTERPOL is governed by the Rules on the Processing of Data (RPD) and the INTERPOL constitution. A successful notice challenge will usually seek to find that the notice is:
There are a number of other factors that can be considered as well.
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