INTERPOL Red Notice and the International Extradition Law

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International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL)

INTERPOL may issue Red Notices to 196 member countries to pursue target persons worldwide. New Zealand’s National Central Bureau generally becomes involved under the following circumstances:

1.     In serious and urgent cases, upon receiving a relevant Red Notice, immediately notify law enforcement agencies to conduct interception checks and arrest operations.

2.     For ordinary offences, notify immigration and internal affairs authorities to defer or terminate the processing of the target person’s relevant residence or citizenship applications.

3.     INTERPOL transfers the target person’s information to the relevant authorities, and those authorities will require the target person to:

• Voluntarily return to their home country to face the charges

• Provide a response to the charges

• Or face hearings relating to extradition applications, etc.

Red Notice

Over the past 30 years, international law enforcement agencies have exchanged intelligence and cooperated frequently and closely, striving to jointly combat domestic and transnational crime. INTERPOL, headquartered in Lyon, France, has played an important role in coordinating investigation and pursuit efforts among 196 member countries. People often mistakenly believe that whenever there is a major transnational case, INTERPOL must be called upon to pursue and arrest target persons. In fact, INTERPOL is merely a central liaison organization for coordination and information exchange, and has no power of arrest or prosecution. At the request of a member country’s National Central Bureau, INTERPOL issues Red Notices to pursue target persons globally and bring them to justice. Arrest operations are carried out by the law enforcement personnel of the country where the target person is located, which is also responsible for arranging the relevant extradition proceedings.

Red Notices are issued based on information provided by a member country’s National Central Bureau, and are circulated to the law enforcement authorities of 196 member countries, including police, customs border control, and immigration departments, etc.

Red Notices have profound impacts on target persons:

1.     Loss of freedom of entry and exit

2.     Possible loss of residency rights or immigration status in the country of current residence

3.     Personal reputation and business being cast under a shadow

4.     Possible extradition to countries with inadequate rule of law and human rights systems to stand trial

Abuse of Red Notice

In recent years, cases of the abuse and excessive issuance of Red Notices have been endless, raising concerns that INTERPOL has become a rubber stamp and has been frequently criticized. In some countries, law enforcement agencies and personnel abuse procedures, violate rules and regulations, engage in political suppression, and even fabricate evidence, pursue personal vendettas, suppress dissenters, and target commercial competitors. If target persons are extradited, it is simply impossible for them to receive a fair trial.

Challenging a Red Notice

The circulation of a Red Notice must comply with the rules set by INTERPOL. If the information provided by a member country’s National Central Bureau does not meet the requirements of the rules, INTERPOL must cancel the relevant Red Notice.

Application for the Deletion of a Red Notice

The procedure for applying to the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files (CCF) for the deletion of a Red Notice is extremely complex:

1.     First, it is necessary to carefully examine whether INTERPOL itself has violated its own established rules, and whether it has abused or erroneously issued a Red Notice.

2.     Whether the National Central Bureau has strictly complied with INTERPOL’s rules, or whether it has misled INTERPOL into issuing a Red Notice.

3.     Whether the wanted person can provide evidence and information to prove that the Red Notice has been abused, in violation of INTERPOL’s rules or even the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

4.     The representing lawyer must have a comprehensive understanding of INTERPOL’s operations and master its extensive rules as well as the essence of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Application for Revision

If the Red Notice cannot be successfully cancelled at the first stage, an application for revision of the decision may be made in accordance with the Statute of the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files, but the following conditions must be met:

1.     The application must be based on new facts.

2.     If the Commission had been aware of the new facts at the first stage, it would have reached a different decision.

3.     The application must be submitted within six months of the discovery of the new facts.

 

Extradition Act of New Zealand

The Act enables the New Zealand Government to render assistance to a foreign government to extradite a person to that country for trial, irrespective of any extradition treaty between New Zealand and the country.   The Act sets out stringent requirements on the information and evidence that a foreign government must furnish in respect of a target person to safeguard his/her interests.

Part 5 of the Act provides specifically for extraditions to non-treaty countries.

An extraditable offence is:

  1. One punishable under the law of an extradition country with a minimum penalty of 12 months imprisonment;
  2. One punishable under similar New Zealand law with similar sentence term - double criminality;
  3. One within the list of extraditable offences provided by a relevant extradition treaty.

When will a New Zealand court dismiss an extradition request?

  1. When it is an offence of a political character (e.g. political persecution);
  2. When sufficient evidence is shown that the person concerned, when extradited, will be ill-treated, subject to human rights violation or will not have a fair trial in the extradition country;
  3. When the person, if extradited, will probably face the death penalty, unless the extradition country undertakes that he will not be subject to such penalty;
  4. When an extradition request is religiously, racially, gender or politically motivated, and that there is no possibility of a fair trial.

Extradition Proceedings

  1. An extradition hearing is a complex process, where a judge will examine all the evidence in relation to the alleged offence, and the prosecution and the defence may call witness to give evidence, which the accused (the target person) generally is not required to do so;
  2. Dependent on whether a prima facie case has been established by the prosecution, a judge may grant or dismiss the extradition request and both the prosecution and the defence may appeal the decision to higher courts;
  3. Given that judicial independence is strictly observed in New Zealand, a judge has absolute authority in  carrying out his/her judicial duties and obligations, free from any interference.