Red Notice — Interpol Wanted Alert

Legal nature and effect

A Red Notice is an international wanted alert issued by Interpol at the request of a member state. It is not an order of arrest and creates no obligation to extradite. However, it regularly prompts member states to provisionally arrest the person sought in order to enable the formal extradition proceedings (see Sections 19 f. IRG for Germany).

Requirements for issuance

Interpol issues Red Notices only where a national arrest warrant or an equivalent judicial decision exists. For prosecution, the offence must carry a maximum penalty of at least two years' imprisonment; for enforcement of a sentence, a custodial sentence of at least six months must have been imposed or remain to be served (Article 83 of Interpol's Rules on the Processing of Data). Under Articles 2 and 3 of Interpol's Constitution, Red Notices are not permitted for proceedings with a predominantly political, military, religious, or racial background (the Article 3 prohibition).

Challenge and deletion

The person sought may apply to the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL's Files (CCF) for review and deletion. Grounds for deletion: a violation of Article 3 of Interpol's Constitution (political motivation), human-rights violations, a sentence that has already been served, procedural errors. The procedure typically takes 9–18 months. Pending the CCF decision, an interim blocking can be requested.

Strategic significance

For clients subject to a Red Notice, legal action is required on two levels: (1) the national level — challenging the alert in the state of arrest and accompanying the extradition proceedings; (2) the Interpol level — a CCF application for permanent deletion. Both should be pursued in parallel, since CCF proceedings do not preclude arrests in third states.

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