Today’s post will address the CCF’s current delays, and how those affect Red Notice subjects globally.
INTERPOL has provided online notification for some time now of the delays being experienced due to higher influxes of requests, along with longer submissions, stating:
The CCF has been experiencing delays in meeting its deadlines due to increases in the workload of the CCF and other INTERPOL stakeholders. The CCF recognizes that this has created challenges for both Applicants and INTERPOL National Central Bureaus, and has been working to address the issues.
The RNLJ has been aware of these delays, and reached out to the CCF in late 2024, inquiring directly to the CCF as to the Commission’s seeming lack of compliance with Article 40(3) of the Statute on the CCF, which requires notification to the parties when the required deadlines are not met, and asking about the possible reasons for the delays. The CCF has 9 months to respond to a decision for a Red Notice removal request; outside of that time frame, the applicant should be notified of the delay. The CCF responded to our request and cited lengthy requests from applicants as a major contributing factor for the widespread delays, as well as an increased workload.
While it can be quite challenging to minimize a removal request in a case involving a complex political or business dispute, we as advocates for applicants can aid in resolving this issue by keeping our submissions as concise as possible while still providing all relevant information.
What can INTERPOL do?
INTERPOL has addressed these delays in part with a resolution passed in the last General Assembly. It authorized additional funding for the CCF which will enable the hiring of new staff. Additionally, INTERPOL states that the General Secretariat is working with the CCF to develop new information technology tools. These changes are expected to improve processing times after they are integrated, although the CCF reminds readers that delays are still expected in 2025 as these programs are introduced.
In our next post, we will discuss the time it takes the CCF to make decisions, and its limited publication of some decisions.
As always, thoughts and comments are welcomed.