Guide

How courts treat Red Notices in extradition

A Red Notice can lead to an arrest, but whether a person is extradited is decided by the courts and government of the country where they are found, under national law and treaties.

• INTERPOL says member countries apply their own laws in deciding whether to arrest a person, and told Euronews it cannot compel any member country to arrest an individual.^1,2
• The US Justice Manual says that when a person is arrested on a Red Notice issued at US request, prosecutors must prepare extradition documents within the deadline set by the relevant treaty.³
• In December 2016 France's Conseil d'État annulled a decree extraditing Mukhtar Ablyazov to Russia, finding the extradition was sought for a political purpose.⁴
• In March 2025 the European Court of Human Rights found Serbia violated the Convention by extraditing a Bahraini man arrested under an INTERPOL warrant without rigorously examining his risk of ill treatment and despite an interim measure.⁵
• The CCF has said that risks a person faces on return may be bars to extradition for national courts, separate from whether INTERPOL's own rules are met.⁶

Sources

1. INTERPOL, View Red Notices (2026)
2. Euronews, Russia is using Interpol to target Putin's political rivals, says NGO (17 March 2018)
3. US Department of Justice, Justice Manual 9-15.000, International Extradition and Related Matters (undated)
4. Conseil d'État (translation hosted by Open Dialog Foundation), Conseil d'État, Nos 394399 and 400239, Mr Ablyazov (English translation) (9 December 2016)
5. European Court of Human Rights, Ali v. Serbia, application no. 4662/22, judgment of 25 March 2025 (25 March 2025)
6. INTERPOL CCF, 2023 Decision Excerpt No 4: Purpose, description of criminal activities, political character (2023)