Once individuals learn of their status as a Red Notice subject, one of the most daunting things about INTERPOL’s removal process is the size of INTERPOL’s systems as well as their unfamiliarity. It can be helpful for a Red Notice subject seeking removal to understand who is in charge of the various divisions of INTERPOL and who makes decisions affecting Red Notice subjects.
The organizational structure of INTERPOL includes the following:
The Secretary General is the most powerful INTERPOL position and is responsible for the General Secretariat, overseeing its day-to-day activities and ensuring that it implements the decisions of the General Assembly and Executive Committee. The Secretary General is proposed by the Executive Committee and appointed by the General Assembly for a period of five years and may be re-appointed once. The second term of the current Secretary General, Jürgen Stock, ends this year, leaving the position open to new candidates.
The General Secretariat runs INTERPOL’s day-to-day operations, with over 1,000 employees and a global presence. It holds its headquarters in Lyon, France, its Global Complex for Innovation in Singapore, and six regional bureaus in Argentina, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, El Salvador, Kenya, and Zimbabwe.
INTERPOL’s president’s role is to preside at meetings of the General Assembly and the Executive Committee and direct the discussions, ensure that the activities of the Organization conform with the decisions of the General Assembly and the Executive Committee, and maintain contact with the Secretary General of the Organization. INTERPOL’s president holds a term of four years. The current president is Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi of the United Arab Emirates.
INTERPOL’s Executive Committee is the governing body that supervises the execution of the General Assembly’s decisions and the administration and work of the General Secretariat. It meets three times a year. The Committee’s members sit at the top level of policing in their own countries and bring many years of experience and knowledge to advise and guide the Organization. Its role is to supervise the execution of the decisions of the General Assembly, prepare the agenda for sessions of the General Assembly, submit to the General Assembly any program of work or project which it considers useful, and supervise the administration and work of the Secretary General.
INTERPOL’s CCF is another important aspect of the organization, and is the most relevant part of INTERPOL for the purposes of a Red Notice subjects. The Commission is structured in two chambers and is supported by the Secretariat for the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s files. These chambers are the Supervisory and Advisory Chamber, and the Requests Chamber. The Requests Chamber examines and decides on requests for access to data and requests for correction and/or deletion of data processed in the INTERPOL Information System. It also examines applications for revision.
The next post in this series will discuss how these roles can affect Red Notice subjects.
[View source.]
