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Our specialist Interpol law barristers have extensive experience of working with teams of solicitors, foreign extradition lawyers and experts as well as reputation management in high profile cases.
Overview
INTERPOL Red Notices
INTERPOL Red Notices are part of the extradition process, they are the envelope that contains the extradition request, and a warning to arrest someone when passing though immigration control. Our specialist Interpol barristers have extensive experience of working with teams of solicitors, foreign extradition lawyers and experts as well as reputation management in high profile cases.
INTERPOL is a police information sharing organisation without the credibility of state to state cooperation or the security of the intelligence services. There are many instances of abuse by business rivals and governments often for commercial and political motives.
INTERPOL’s job is to find alleged criminals by sharing information and executing extradition requests. Often, there is no proper filter of the requests. Cooperation with the likes of China, Russia, Turkey and the UAE expose the system to fundamental abuse in political corruption cases.
Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and other CIS states frequently issues INTERPOL Red Notices to ask for arrest and extradition of political opponents and business people, whose interests do not align with the regime.
Our Barristers have extensive experience of removing INTERPOL red notices and dealing with subsequent asylum and extradition proceedings. The Extradition Team is ranked in The Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners, along with seven members of the team.
INTERPOL Diffusion Notices are a less formal process and request cooperation from member states rather than the formal arrest request of the Red Notice and can be even even more open to abuse. INTERPOL are trying to tighten their procedure but the volume of diffusion notices it is difficult for INTERPOL to effectively check every diffusion notice for abuse. Diffusion notices are removed onto same criteria as Red Notices.
Removing an INTERPOL Notice
INTERPOL Red Notices can be removed on a number of grounds by making submissions to the Commission of the Control of files (“CCF”) usually under the grounds that they breach INTERPOL’s Constitution and its Rules on the Process of Data. Many Red notices are not published on INTERPOL’s website. There are over 58,000 INTERPOL Red Notices and only 7,000 of them are publicly available.
Refugee policy
INTERPOL’s Refugee Policy, prohibits the processing of Red Notices against refugees and it will not will not be allowed if (1) the status of the asylum-seeker has been confirmed; (2) the notice has been requested by the country where the individual fears persecution; and (3) the granting of the refugee status is not based on political grounds.
The Advisory Opinion of the UNHCR dated 31 March 2005 deal with the issue of confidentiality. As the report notes:
“The possible risks to the individual asylum-seeker caused by information reaching the wrong people, but also the detrimental effect of misuse of information to the asylum system as a whole are very serious in nature. Consequently, strict adherence to the fundamental principles and refugee protection is vital, and exceptions should only be allowed under well-defined and specific circumstances.”
However, removing INTERPOL'S Red Notices even when a refugee is a complex process and requires careful handling to prevent sensitive information being disclosed.
Article 3 of INTERPOL’s Constitution
It is strictly forbidden for the Organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.
INTERPOL is required to delete any information concerning the Requesting Party under the Article 3 prohibition on engagement with activities of a political nature and the Rules for the Processing of Data.
Article 2 of INTERPOL’s Constitution
Under Article 2 of its Constitution, INTERPOL’s aims are:
(1) To ensure and promote the widest possible mutual assistance between all criminal police authorities within the limits of the laws existing in the different countries and in the spirit of the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”
There are therefore a number of human rights issues that can mean a Red Notice can be removed including:
- Right not to be discriminated against (Article 2 UN Declaration of Human Rights)
- Right to Life, Liberty and Security (Article 3 UN Declaration of Human Rights)
- Right to be protected from torture and inhumane and degrading treatment (Article 5 UN Declaration of Human Rights)
- Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law. (Article 8 United Nations Declaration of Human Rights)
- No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile (Article 9 UN Declaration of Human Rights)
- Right to fair trial (Article 10 UN Declaration of Human Rights)
- Right to a fair hearing in accordance with the law (Article 11 UN Declaration of Human Rights).
