As INTERPOL has developed over time, it has experienced the growing pains that normally attend any large and relatively complex entity, and also some that are more specific to its own, unusual functions. In his book that I love, The Legal Foundations of INTERPOL, Rutsel Silvestre J. Martha touched on one of these developments: the creation of the Commisssion for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files (CCF).
The CCF was created when France and INTERPOL were renegotiating INTERPOL’s Headquarters Agreement. France was concerned about the rights of individuals to have access to the information that INTERPOL possessed about them, and argued that French law should govern the files that were in France. INTERPOL disagreed, based on the fact that French governance would result in INTERPOL losing its autonomy from any one country’s authority, which is critical to its mission.
A compromise was reached in the form of the CCF. Its function includes the processing of requests for access to INTERPOL’s files by individuals who are the subjects of Red Notices, and other Notices as well. This arrangement also allows for other member countries to communicate with INTERPOL free from worry that the French government will be privy to their communications. More on that in the next post.
As always, thoughts and comments are welcomed.