Being subject to an Interpol Notice can have serious consequences for your freedom, reputation, and daily life. Understanding the type of notice issued against you and the rights available to you is therefore essential. Interpol issues several distinct types of notices, each serving a different law enforcement purpose. While the Interpol Red Notice is the most widely known, other notices can equally affect individuals in significant ways.
At Schlun & Elseven Rechtsanwälte, our extradition and Interpol lawyers are experienced in advising and representing clients subject to all types of Interpol Notices. If you have been made aware of an Interpol Notice issued against you, or suspect that one may exist, contact our team without delay for personalized legal assistance.

Interpol Blue Notices operate similarly to Interpol Red Notices. Interpol Red Notices can lead to immediate arrest and extradition, whereas Interpol Blue Notices should lead to additional information about a person’s identity, prior convictions, recent location or activities related to a crime. It is not an international arrest warrant and it can be issued before criminal charges are filed. A person who is subject to an Interpol Blue Notice may not have been convicted of any crime. Instead, they can be sought after for providing more information about a criminal case as a witness or an informant to prepare criminal proceedings.

A member state issues an Interpol Green Notice if police authorities want to warn each other about a person’s criminal activities. The Interpol Green Notice can consist of as many information as are relevant to the case. This can be the case if a person is suspected of being a possible threat to public safety. The subject of an Interpol Green Notice can often be a person who has committed a criminal offence before and there is a good case that they are likely to commit one again. These cases are often related to serial sex offences.

Yellow Notices are issued to help locate missing persons or people who are unable to identify themselves. The disappearance has to have prior been reported to the police or the person unable to identify themselves has to have been picked up by the police. These cases can often involve minors or people who may not be of sound mind. Child abduction, kidnappings and unexplainable disappearances are often related to the issuing of Interpol Yellow Notices.

If police authorities need to warn each other about an event, an object, a procedure, a modus operandi or a person, they can issue Interpol Orange Notices. Such warnings can refer to parcel bombs or other dangerous and explosive materials that can threaten public safety.

An Interpol Black Notice is issued to seek information on unidentified bodies. Interpol will then circulate photographs of the body to collect information. In many of these cases, the person found may have been using false identities, which is why the identification process might be difficult.

Interpol Purple Notices are used to collect information about the operating of a criminal or a criminal group. Police forces should particularly seek information on objects and devices they use as well as their hiding places. Interpol Purple Notices have mostly been used in piracy or poaching cases to locate ships or similar objects.

In addition to the formal Notice system, Interpol member states can circulate Diffusion Notices, a less formal alert mechanism that operates without the same procedural requirements as a standard Notice. Diffusions can be addressed to one or more member states and are color-coded in the same way as formal Notices. Despite their informal nature, Diffusions carry the same risk of triggering an arrest as an Interpol Red Notice and must therefore be taken equally seriously.
Diffusions must nonetheless comply with Interpol’s rules and regulations, and legal recourse is available where they do not. A concern frequently raised by clients is whether a member state could issue a Diffusion after an Interpol Red Notice has been successfully challenged and removed. In this regard, it is important to note that Interpol does not seek to circulate data that violates its own rules. Where there is reason to believe that a Diffusion may violate Interpol’s rules, our lawyers will communicate this directly to Interpol and pursue the appropriate legal remedies on your behalf.

Our extradition and Interpol lawyers have the expertise and experience to advise and represent clients subject to any type of Interpol Notice or Diffusion. We analyze the grounds for the notice, assess its validity, identify any legal flaws or violations, and communicate directly with Interpol where necessary. Where a notice is found to be non-compliant with Interpol’s rules, we pursue its deletion through all available legal channels. If you are subject to an Interpol Notice of any kind, contact us now through our secure contact form for immediate and confidential legal assistance.