Legal help with INTERPOL data
I advise individuals, families and international legal teams on Red, Blue, Silver and Yellow Notices, diffusions and requests to the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files (CCF). My work connects the underlying criminal or family proceedings with a focused assessment of the data held by INTERPOL.
Different notices serve different purposes. An alert concerning a person, a missing child or assets calls for a response tailored to its legal basis, the supporting facts and the countries involved.
Detailed INTERPOL and CCF guides
These focused pages explain the purpose of each mechanism, the questions a legal review may address and the documents usually needed for an initial assessment.
Red Notice removal
Grounds, evidence and coordination with extradition counsel.
CCF deletion request
Access, correction, deletion and the written procedure.
Blue Notice review
Information requests connected with criminal investigations.
Yellow Notice removal
Missing-person alerts and connected family disputes.
Silver Notice review
Asset tracing during the current pilot framework.
Travel with a Red Notice
Border risks, preparation and the limits of a CCF request.
Access to INTERPOL data
How to ask whether the Information System contains personal data.
How long a CCF request takes
Official periods, admissibility and procedural stages.
Red Notice or diffusion
Circulation, visibility, legal effect and available challenges.
Red Notices
A Red Notice requests the location and provisional arrest of a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action. It is not an international arrest warrant: each country determines its legal effect under its domestic law.
What I can do
I can seek access to the applicant’s INTERPOL data and, where grounds exist, request correction or deletion. The review addresses the underlying accusation, the judicial documents, the quality of the data and compliance with INTERPOL’s Constitution and rules. It should run alongside advice on detention, extradition and travel in the relevant countries.
Official reference: INTERPOL’s explanation of Red Notices ↗
Blue Notices
A Blue Notice seeks additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in connection with a criminal investigation. Under Article 88 of INTERPOL’s Rules on the Processing of Data, it may concern a person who is convicted, charged or suspected, as well as a witness or victim.
It is not a request for arrest and does not, by itself, establish that an arrest warrant exists. It may be used at an early investigative stage to obtain identification, location or other relevant information across borders. A later Red Notice is possible only if its separate requirements are met; it is not an automatic progression.
What I can do
Through a CCF access request, I can ask whether a Blue Notice is held and which country supplied it, subject to the disclosure limits explained below. A challenge may examine the genuine connection to an investigation, the sufficiency of identifying and case information, and compliance with Article 88 and INTERPOL’s Constitution, including the prohibition on political, military, religious or racial interventions.
Early review can help identify inaccuracies and coordinate the response before the procedural position changes.
Official reference: Rules on the Processing of Data, Article 88 (PDF) ↗
Silver Notices
A Silver Notice is an asset-tracing mechanism: it seeks information about assets suspected of a connection to criminal activity, including property, vehicles, accounts and companies. INTERPOL currently describes it as a pilot initiative.
The pilot rules require a person under criminal investigation for serious crime and sufficient case information explaining the alleged criminal activity, its connection to the person and/or assets, and the nature of the assets sought. The mechanism supports non-coercive information exchange; it is not itself a freezing, seizure or confiscation order. Any such action requires a separate legal basis and procedure in the relevant country.
Silver Notice extracts are not published on INTERPOL’s public website. An absence from public search results therefore does not establish that no asset-related data are being exchanged.
What I can do
I can ask the CCF about relevant personal data and their source, subject to disclosure restrictions, and seek correction or deletion where justified. The review may test the case information, the alleged asset connection and compliance with INTERPOL’s rules. Local counsel can separately challenge asset measures where the property is located.
Official references: About INTERPOL notices ↗ · Silver Notice pilot framework (PDF) ↗
Yellow Notices
A Yellow Notice is an international alert to help locate a missing person, often a child, or identify someone unable to identify themselves. It may arise from parental abduction, another disappearance or an unexplained absence. It is not a notice seeking arrest for prosecution.
It can nevertheless affect travel in practice. A border alert may lead to questions, requests for documents and checks on identity or the authority to travel with a child. Protective measures depend on domestic law. Any entry or visa issue requires a separate, country-specific assessment; refusal is not an automatic consequence of a Yellow Notice.
One factual record. A connected defence.
The strategy for deleting a child’s Yellow Notice often depends on assessing the same facts that prompted a Red Notice against a parent or guardian. Allegations presented as criminal may arise from a private dispute over parental rights, guardianship or the child’s whereabouts. Court decisions from different, sometimes competing jurisdictions can be central to understanding that dispute.
Where both notices arise from the same events, my approach is to seek their deletion through a single, coordinated application to the CCF, where the procedural requirements permit. The application presents one common factual record and explains why the notices are interconnected and should be considered together. A unified submission can help avoid fragmented consideration and support a more efficient review.
Showing the private or family-law dispute underlying the allegations—and its relevance to both notices—can be decisive in assessing whether the continued use of INTERPOL’s channels is justified.
What I can do
I can build the shared chronology, analyse the relevant court decisions and explain the relationship between the two notices. The application addresses the grounds for deleting each notice, the authority to act for each person and the child’s best interests. I coordinate this work with family-law counsel; the CCF reviews INTERPOL data, not custody rights.
Official references: INTERPOL’s explanation of Yellow Notices ↗ · The CCF’s remit ↗
What the work can include
- Access requests: asking whether INTERPOL processes the applicant’s personal data, what information is held and which country supplied it.
- Correction and deletion requests: identifying inaccuracies and explaining why the challenged data should be corrected or removed (delisting).
- Russian case analysis: reviewing the allegation, arrest decision, chronology and supporting court or commercial records.
- Revision: assessing whether newly discovered facts may justify revision of an earlier CCF decision under Article 42 of the CCF Statute.
- Coordination: aligning the INTERPOL submission with the work of extradition, family-law, asset-recovery or other local counsel.
Access and revision have limits
An access request does not guarantee disclosure of a notice or its source. Under Article 35 of the CCF Statute, the Commission consults the source of the data and applies the rules governing restrictions on disclosure.
There is no ordinary appeal against a CCF decision. Article 42 allows an application for revision based on newly discovered facts that could have led to a different conclusion. The application must be made within six months of discovering those facts; eligibility depends on the decision, the new material and the applicable requirements.
Official reference: CCF Statute, Articles 35 and 42 (PDF) ↗
From the case record to the submission
The first review establishes what is known about the alert, which countries are involved and whether there is an immediate hearing or detention issue. The next step is to compare the Russian accusation with the documents supporting it: contracts, payments, court decisions and the procedural history.
I distinguish established facts from disputed allegations and link each argument to the supporting evidence. Scope, authority to act and the documents needed are agreed before substantive work begins.
CCF requests are now submitted through its dedicated online portal, subject to the Commission’s stated exceptions. The official instructions should be checked before submission.
Official reference: CCF request procedure ↗
Selected experience
CCF · 2020
Challenge to a diffusion arising from a business dispute
The case concerned the general director of KOSMOSAVIASPETSSTROY and alleged embezzlement involving RUB 711.2 million. The Commission identified unresolved doubts about the private nature and lawfulness of the proceedings. Subsequent correspondence and an INTERPOL certificate confirmed the absence of a Red Notice or diffusion at the date of the certificate.
INTERPOL · 2022
Red Notice removed after 25 years
I acted in a matter concerning a Canadian businessman and oil-sector investor whose Red Notice was removed after 25 years in INTERPOL’s files. The Russian criminal proceedings were also dismissed. The letter below confirms the deletion of the data supplied by Russia; it is not a domestic court decision.
Case details are anonymised. Past outcomes do not guarantee a similar result, and historical confirmation is not a statement about a person’s current status.
Clients and counsel in the US, Cyprus and the UAE
I advise clients and legal teams in the United States, Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates on INTERPOL data and Russian criminal proceedings, working remotely in English or Russian.
Advice on local arrest, immigration or extradition proceedings must be obtained from appropriately qualified counsel in the relevant country. A data-deletion request is not presented as a substitute for that advice or as a guarantee of unrestricted travel.
Read how INTERPOL and Russian-case work is coordinated for international clients →
Latest article
When INTERPOL Notices Overlap
Red, Blue and Yellow Notices arising from the same family dispute may require linked CCF review under Rule 26, while remaining subject to separate legal tests.
Services are subject to a conflict check and an agreed scope of engagement. References to countries describe the intended audience or specific experience; they do not indicate local offices or admission to practise local law. General information only, not advice on any individual matter.