Today's post is the third in a series of posts addressing the CCF's Annual Report for 2011 and focuses on the relationship between the CCF and the General Secretariat.
The CCF is the arm of INTERPOL charged with the protection and monitoring of data processed by INTERPOL. The General Secretariat has the authority to either accept or reject the CCF's recommended responses to challenges against Red Notices.
In its 2011 Annual Report, the CCF noted that the General Secretariat accepted all of the Commission's recommendations regarding the validity of data processed by INTERPOL. While there is a procedure in place for that dictates the protocol for instances in which the General Secretariat disagrees with the Commission, no such scenarios arose in 2011 that required the implementation of that procedure.
Because of the fact that the CCF holds the position of guardian of individual rights within INTERPOL, this is good news for Red Notice subjects and their attorneys. It remains true that fighting a Red Notice is an uphill battle due to the presumption of validity that cloaks every Red Notice. However, the lack of discord between the General Secretariat and the CCF indicates a high level of respect for the CCF's decisions, including its decisions to delete improper data from its databases.
