What is an Interpol Red Notice?
Interpol — the International Criminal Police Organization, headquartered in Lyon — does not operate its own search or enforcement body. Instead, it provides its 196 member states with a communication network through which wanted alerts are exchanged. The best-known instrument is the Red Notice, by which a state asks all other member states to arrest and extradite a wanted person.
A Red Notice is not an arrest warrant. It is an international wanted alert; whether an arrest actually takes place is decided by each member state under its own law. In practice, however, a Red Notice regularly leads to arrest and provisional extradition detention, because the authorities find the entry in the wanted-persons system at every check.
Red Notice and diffusion compared
Alongside the Red Notice there is the diffusion. The difference lies in the way it is circulated: a Red Notice is reviewed by the General Secretariat in Lyon and circulated to all member states. A diffusion, by contrast, is sent by a state's national central bureau (NCB) directly to selected states, without prior review by the General Secretariat.
This lack of prior review makes diffusions particularly susceptible to abuse. For those affected, however, the distinction is of limited practical significance: both can lead to arrest, and both can be challenged and deleted through the CCF.
Arrest and extradition risk
The practical risk of an Interpol alert is considerable. A Red Notice or diffusion can lead to arrest and subsequent extradition detention at any border crossing or identity check. Those affected often learn of the alert only at the moment of arrest — for example on entry, during a traffic stop or when applying for a passport.
The path from the alert to deletion can be set out in three steps — and, in the event of an arrest, the actual extradition defense runs alongside it before the Higher Regional Court.
Deletion through the CCF
Control of the data stored with Interpol rests with the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL's Files (CCF) — an independent supervisory body based in Lyon. Any person may request access to the data stored about them at the CCF and apply for its correction or deletion.
Deletion is sought through a reasoned application to the CCF. The application typically relies on a breach of Article 3 of the CCF Statute — the prohibition of alerts of a predominantly political, military, religious or racial character — or of Article 2, which requires respect for human rights and compliance with Interpol's data-protection rules. Where such a breach exists, the CCF may block or fully delete the data.
CCF proceedings are a self-standing, written procedure that can be pursued independently of any ongoing extradition proceedings — and often must be pursued in parallel. A successful deletion frequently removes the factual basis from an extradition request.
Abusive Red Notices
A particular problem arises with alerts requested for political reasons. Authoritarian states increasingly use the Red Notice and the diffusion as a tool to pursue political opponents, dissidents, journalists or business people across national borders. The diffusion in particular is susceptible to this, because it is circulated without prior review by the General Secretariat.
In such cases the defense is especially demanding: alongside legal expertise, it requires precise knowledge of the political and human-rights conditions in the requesting state. Establishing the political character of an alert is the central lever for deletion under Article 3 of the CCF Statute.
Why specialized defense is decisive
CCF proceedings combine public international law, data-protection law and human-rights law. The requirements for a deletion application are high, the procedure is written and its workings are not very transparent. At the same time, the person affected faces a continuing risk of arrest at every border crossing. Early, specialized representation is therefore regularly decisive for success.
Rechtsanwalt Andreas Meyer has more than two decades of experience defending against international alerts and extradition requests. He represents clients nationwide in Germany before all Higher Regional Courts, before the Federal Constitutional Court and in proceedings before the Interpol supervisory commission (CCF). His law firm in Kiel is reachable around the clock — including weekends and public holidays.