INTERPOL Red Notice: Meaning, Arrest Risk & Removal

What is Interpol Red Notice?

An INTERPOL Red Notice is an international request for police cooperation concerning a person wanted for prosecution or to serve a criminal sentence.

The Notice is published by INTERPOL’s General Secretariat following a request from a member country’s National Central Bureau (NCB) or, in appropriate cases, an authorised international entity with investigative and prosecutorial powers.

Its purpose is to seek the person’s location and provisional arrest, detention or restriction of movement with a view to extradition, surrender or similar lawful action.

A Red Notice is not the same as an international arrest warrant. INTERPOL does not issue national arrest warrants, conduct arrests or order member countries to detain a person.

A Red Notice typically contains identifying and judicial information, which can include:

• name and surname;
• date of birth;
• nationality;
• photograph;
• identifying documents or other identifiers;
• fingerprints or other biometric information where available;
• the offence for which the person is wanted;
• information about the underlying arrest warrant or judicial decision.

Not every Red Notice is publicly visible. INTERPOL publishes extracts of some Notices on its public website, while many are available only through its law-enforcement information systems.

A person wanted for prosecution has not necessarily been convicted and should not be described as a criminal merely because a Red Notice exists.

Requirements for Issuing a Red Notice

The publication of a Red Notice is governed principally by INTERPOL’s Constitution and Rules on the Processing of Data (RPD).

Article 83 of the RPD establishes specific conditions for Red Notices.

As a general rule, the underlying offence must be a serious ordinary-law crime. The applicable penalty threshold is normally:

• where the person is wanted for prosecution, the offence must be punishable by a maximum deprivation of liberty of at least two years or a more serious penalty;
• where the person is wanted to serve a sentence, the sentence imposed or remaining to be served must generally be at least six months.

The request must also be relevant to international police cooperation and supported by sufficient identifying and judicial information.

Certain categories of offences normally fall outside the Red Notice mechanism. These include offences arising primarily from:

• family or private disputes;
• controversial behavioural or cultural norms;
• administrative-law violations;
• private disputes, unless the alleged conduct facilitates a serious crime or is connected with organised crime.

INTERPOL’s Constitution also imposes broader restrictions.

Article 2 requires the Organisation to act in the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, while Article 3 strictly prohibits INTERPOL from undertaking activities of a predominantly political, military, religious or racial character.

These provisions can become central where a Notice appears to arise from political persecution, a private commercial dispute presented as a criminal case, or another misuse of international police cooperation.

Where political motivation is a central issue, see our service for politically motivated Red Notices.

Red Notice Approval Process

A member country does not itself “issue” an INTERPOL Red Notice to the rest of the world. It submits a request, and INTERPOL’s General Secretariat decides whether the request can be authorised under the Organisation’s rules.

The process generally involves three stages.

Step 1. The competent authorities in the requesting country provide the relevant information through their National Central Bureau. The request must contain sufficient identifying information and judicial data concerning the person and the underlying criminal proceedings.

Step 2. INTERPOL’s General Secretariat reviews the request. Incoming Red Notice requests are examined by the Notices and Diffusions Task Force (NDTF), a specialised team that includes lawyers, police officers and operational specialists.

The review considers compliance with the RPD, Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution and other applicable INTERPOL rules. Where necessary, additional information can be requested from the source country or other relevant sources.

Step 3. If the request satisfies INTERPOL’s requirements, the General Secretariat may authorise publication of the Red Notice. If it is found to be non-compliant, the request can be refused.

This pre-publication review is important, but it does not prevent every disputed Notice from entering the system. New facts, court decisions, refugee status or information concerning political motivation may emerge later.

Existing Red Notices are also subject to continuing compliance review.

If a published Notice no longer complies with INTERPOL’s rules, it may be challenged through the INTERPOL Red Notice removal process.

The Non-Binding Status of Red Notices

A Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant and does not impose a universal legal obligation on every INTERPOL member country to arrest the person concerned.

Each state determines the legal value of a Red Notice under its own domestic law and applicable international agreements.

This distinction has practical consequences.

In one jurisdiction, a Red Notice may contribute to a decision to provisionally arrest a person pending an extradition request. In another, authorities may require a separate national warrant, judicial decision or formal request before detention is permitted.

A Red Notice should therefore not be described either as “only an advisory message with no legal effect” or as an instrument that automatically requires arrest.

Its actual impact depends on:

• the country where the person is located;
• applicable national arrest law;
• the underlying national warrant;
• extradition treaties or regional instruments;
• whether a formal extradition request has already been received.

The existence of a Notice can therefore create a serious travel and detention risk even though INTERPOL itself has no power to order an arrest.

How Long Does an Interpol Red Notice last?

A Red Notice should not be described as automatically and permanently disappearing once five years have passed.

INTERPOL’s data-processing framework contains retention and review requirements, and information may continue to be processed where the applicable conditions remain satisfied and continued retention is authorised.

A Notice can also be cancelled earlier where:

• its purpose has been achieved;
• the requesting country withdraws the request;
• the underlying conditions for publication cease to exist;
• INTERPOL determines that continued processing is no longer compliant;
• the CCF determines that the relevant data should be deleted.

Equally important, deletion of an INTERPOL Red Notice does not automatically cancel the underlying national arrest warrant or criminal proceedings.

The requesting country may continue to maintain a person on its domestic wanted list or use other lawful bilateral or regional cooperation channels.

For this reason, waiting for an assumed expiry date is not an adequate defence strategy where a Red Notice is creating an immediate legal risk.

Can a Red Notice Lead to Extradition?

Yes, a Red Notice can be connected with an extradition process, but it does not itself order or guarantee extradition.

The Notice is designed to locate a person and facilitate provisional measures while the requesting country pursues extradition, surrender or similar lawful action.

A typical sequence may involve:

1. authorities locate the person;
2. domestic authorities decide whether legal grounds exist for provisional arrest;
3. the requesting state is informed;
4. a formal extradition request may follow;
5. the competent national authorities or courts consider that request under the applicable law or treaty.

The extradition court does not simply decide whether a Red Notice exists.

Depending on the jurisdiction, issues can include:

• whether the alleged conduct is extraditable;
• dual criminality;
• procedural requirements;
• applicable limitation periods;
• human-rights risks;
• political-offence restrictions;
• refugee or asylum status;
• the validity of the underlying warrant.

A successful CCF challenge and an extradition defence therefore address different legal mechanisms.

Where a case involves potential torture, persecution, unfair-trial concerns or other fundamental-rights issues, our international human rights lawyers can assess those issues alongside the INTERPOL proceedings.

How do I Find out if There is a Red Notice Against Me?

There are two principal ways to investigate whether INTERPOL may be processing wanted-person data concerning you.

First, check INTERPOL’s public Red Notice database.

This can confirm a Notice where an extract has been made public, but a negative search result does not prove that no Red Notice exists. Many Notices are available only to authorised law-enforcement authorities.

Wanted-person Diffusions are also distinct from public Red Notices and may not appear in the public database.

Second, an individual can submit a formal request for access to the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files.

A CCF Request for Access asks whether INTERPOL processes personal data concerning the applicant and seeks disclosure of information that can be communicated under the applicable rules.

Since 26 March 2026, new CCF requests must generally be submitted through the Commission’s dedicated secure online portal.

Access applications are free of charge and do not require a lawyer.

Under the CCF Statute, an access request should normally be decided within four months from the date on which it becomes admissible. That period should not be confused with the longer timetable for correction or deletion requests.

If you are unsure whether the issue involves a Red Notice, a Diffusion or another form of INTERPOL data, an INTERPOL CCF lawyer can assess the appropriate procedure.

Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files

The Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files (CCF) is an independent and impartial body responsible for ensuring that personal data processed through INTERPOL’s Information System complies with the Organisation’s rules.

Its functions include:

• monitoring compliance with INTERPOL’s data-processing rules;
• advising the Organisation on data-processing matters;
• considering individual requests for access, correction and deletion.

Individual cases are handled by the CCF’s Requests Chamber.

The CCF is not a criminal court. It does not determine whether an applicant is guilty or innocent and does not cancel domestic criminal proceedings or national arrest warrants.

Its task is to determine whether the processing of data by INTERPOL complies with the Organisation’s legal framework.

A person may ask the CCF to:

• access data concerning them;
• correct inaccurate or outdated data;
• delete data that no longer complies with INTERPOL’s rules;
• seek revision of a previous CCF decision where the applicable requirements are met.

Correction and deletion requests should normally be decided within nine months after becoming admissible, subject to the possibility of extension in appropriate cases.

A successful deletion decision concerns INTERPOL’s processing of data. Separate legal action may still be required in the requesting country regarding the underlying arrest warrant or criminal case.

The TRAP Act and the Abuse of Red Notices

The Transnational Repression Accountability and Prevention (TRAP) Act forms part of the U.S. framework for addressing misuse of INTERPOL mechanisms for political or other improper purposes.

It is U.S. legislation, not an internal INTERPOL procedure and not a mechanism through which an individual directly applies to have a Red Notice deleted.

Its relevance lies primarily in U.S. policy, oversight and safeguards concerning potentially abusive Red Notices, Diffusions and other INTERPOL communications.

Individuals seeking deletion of INTERPOL data generally need to use the Organisation’s own procedures, principally the CCF, while any U.S. legal consequences must be assessed under the applicable American legal framework.

Key Provisions of the TRAP Act

Key elements include:

1. Monitoring INTERPOL abuse. U.S. agencies assess misuse of Red Notices, Diffusions and other INTERPOL mechanisms for political or other improper purposes.
2. Interagency safeguards. The legislation supports procedures designed to identify and respond to potentially abusive INTERPOL communications within the United States.
3. Diplomatic and institutional engagement. U.S. authorities can raise concerns about misuse and support reforms intended to strengthen INTERPOL’s neutrality and safeguards.
4. Reporting and oversight. The framework provides for U.S. government reporting to Congress concerning the scope of INTERPOL abuse and measures taken in response.
5. Protection against transnational repression. Particular attention is given to the misuse of international police mechanisms against political opponents, journalists, activists, human-rights defenders and other potential targets of transnational repression.

The TRAP Act does not itself erase a Red Notice and should not be described as a substitute for a CCF deletion request.

Lawyer for challenging Interpol red notices

A Red Notice can be challenged where there are credible grounds to argue that its publication or continued processing does not comply with INTERPOL’s Constitution or Rules on the Processing of Data.

Legal representation is not mandatory before the CCF, and no lawyer can guarantee deletion.

Specialist assistance can nevertheless be useful where a case involves:

• political motivation or transnational repression;
• inaccurate or outdated information;
• changes to the underlying arrest warrant or criminal proceedings;
• a predominantly private or commercial dispute;
• refugee or asylum status;
• human-rights concerns;
• parallel extradition proceedings;
• several countries or overlapping international alerts.

Our lawyers can assist with three different stages of an INTERPOL matter.

Preventive strategy. Where there is a concrete risk that a state may seek an INTERPOL alert in the future, a preventive request to INTERPOL can be considered. It does not guarantee that a future request will be blocked.

Access. Where it is unclear whether INTERPOL processes data concerning the person, a Request for Access can be submitted through the CCF procedure.

Correction or deletion. Where relevant data already exists and there are grounds to challenge its compliance, an application can seek correction or deletion through the CCF. Our dedicated Red Notice removal lawyers assess the Notice, underlying proceedings and supporting evidence before preparing the request.

Where the case involves a wanted-person Diffusion rather than a Red Notice, the legal and procedural analysis should address that instrument separately. See our INTERPOL Diffusion lawyers.

The CCF process should also be coordinated with national criminal and extradition proceedings where necessary. Removal of INTERPOL data does not by itself terminate a domestic arrest warrant, and successful national proceedings do not always cause INTERPOL data to disappear automatically.

A coherent strategy should therefore address both the international data and the underlying national case.

To discuss an INTERPOL Red Notice, access request, deletion application or related extradition risk, book a confidential consultation with our international legal team.

Dmytro Konovalenko

Senior Partner, Attorney-at-law, admitted to the Bar (Certificate to practice Law #001156)

Lawyer, an expert in extradition and Interpol. He is a member of the International Bar Association. For more than 5 years he has been defending clients against international wanted notices from the USA, Russia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and other countries. Dmytro has had a positive experience in taking preventive measures to block the search at the initial stages. Dmytro specializes in the defense of economic, political, and war crimes

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+357 96 447475

Email:

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