New Interpol Case Excerpts Are Well Overdue

Interpol’s Commission for the Control of Files (“CCF”) has the role of deciding on applications for the deletion of Red Notices. As it is not a judicial body it does not publish case decisions as a matter of course. Data protection rules also require that any personal details relating to individual applications should be kept confidential.

However, for some years now the CCF has published anonymised “Decision Excerpts”, generally focussed on contentious topics deemed to be in the wider public interest. These provide useful guidance on how the CCF in practice applies its constitution, the rules for the processing of data and general principles of international law to any deletion requests

While there has been no let up in the volume of Red Notice deletion requests the CCF has to process – see Red Notice Monitor blog – it has been some time since the last tranche of “Decision Excerpts” were published. In fact, the most recent series of ten Decision Excerpts were published three years ago in September 2019.

Against that background, the timing of the publication of Interpol’s updated Article 83 list of prohibited content for Red Notices issued in January this year is interesting – see Red Notice Monitor blog . It is to be hoped that the issuance of this new legal guidance does not mark the end of publication of “Decision Excerpts”. Amidst increasing criticism of the lack of transparency surrounding Interpol’s work in general and the CCF in particular the publication of more recent “Decisions Excerpts” would be warmly received.

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