Extradition Denied: Red Notice Removal?

One primary purpose of a Red Notice is to facilitate mutual assistance among INTERPOL’s member states in locating individuals subject to such notices and extraditing them to the requesting country for prosecution or sentencing.

When authorities locate a Red Notice subject and inform the requesting country, the latter sometimes fails to take the necessary steps for extradition (e.g. sending translated documents in the requested country's official language). A recent inquiry illustrates this issue:

I was arrested and detained for 31 days due to a Red Notice, but the requesting country failed to provide the required translated documents within the deadline. Can I be arrested again in the same country? Does INTERPOL’s Constitution allow for the cancellation or removal of a Red Notice if the requesting country fails to act?

The answer is not a Yes or No. It depends on the reasons the extradition was denied.

As the Requests Chamber highlighted in CCF Decision Excerpt Number 5 of 2019, "When assessing extradition refusals, the Commission recalled its position that the mere existence of an extradition refusal by another member state does not necessarily mean that the purpose of the data is no longer valid. In cases where this situation arises, the Commission pays specific attention as to the grounds for the extradition refusal, and whether it is purely procedural or connected to issues linked with analogous principles which are part of INTERPOL's rules" (e.g. violation of human rights under UDHR).

Responding to the questions:

Can I be arrested again in the same country?

If extradition is refused on substantive grounds, such as a potential violation of human rights upon extradition, the individual is unlikely to be re-arrested. However, if the extradition was refused on procedural grounds, re-arrest is possible if new information emerges that supports the extradition.

Does INTERPOL have provisions to cancel such Red Notices?

Under Article 82 of INTERPOL’s Rules on the Processing of Data, a Red Notice is intended to facilitate extradition. If the requesting country fails to act or extradition is denied, an addendum may be added to the notice or removed altogether. Grounds for refusing extradition that align with the reasons for removing the Red Notice can lead to its deletion.

Since flaws in the underlying charges often lead to extradition denial, individuals with a Red Notice should review the notice with their attorneys to identify potential grounds for its removal.