International Criminal Police organization (INTERPOL)

 Milestones in INTERPOL’s history

1914 –   First International Criminal Police Congress held inMonaco(23 countries in attendance)

1923 –   Creation of International Criminal Police Commission, based inVienna

1946 –   Organization rebuilt after WWII and based inParis; notice system created and first Red Notices issued

1956 –   Renamed International Criminal Police Organization - INTERPOL

1971 –   Recognized as intergovernmental organization by the UN

1989 –   General Secretariat moves fromParistoLyon

2004 –   INTERPOL representative office opened at the UN inNew York

2008 –   INTERPOL representative office opened at the European Union inBrussels

STRUCTURE OF THE ORGANIZATION

The Organization called the 'INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL POLICE COMMISSION' shall henceforth be entitled: 'THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL POLICE ORGANIZATION - INTERPOL'. Its seat shall be inFrance.

Its aims are:

It is strictly forbidden for the Organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.

Any country may delegate as a Member to the Organization any official police body whose functions come within the framework of activities of the Organization.

The request for membership shall be submitted to the Secretary General by the appropriate governmental authority.

Membership shall be subject to approval by a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly.

The International Criminal Police Organization - INTERPOL shall comprise:

• The General Assembly
• The Executive Committee
• The General Secretariat
• The National Central Bureaus
• The Advisers
• The Commission for the Control of Files

The General Assembly shall be the body of supreme authority in the Organization. It is composed of delegates appointed by the Members of the Organization.

Each Member may be represented by one or several delegates; however, for each country there shall be only one delegation head, appointed by the competent governmental authority of that country.

Because of the technical nature of the Organization, Members should attempt to include the following in their delegations:

The functions of the General Assembly shall be the following:

Members shall do all within their power, in so far as is compatible with their own obligations, to carry out the decisions of the General Assembly.

The General Assembly of the Organization shall meet in ordinary session every year. It may meet in extraordinary session at the request of the Executive Committee or of the majority of Members.

Only one delegate from each country shall have the right to vote in the General Assembly.

Decisions shall be made by a simple majority except in those cases where a two-thirds majority is required by the Constitution.

The Executive Committee shall be composed of the President of the Organization, the three Vice-Presidents and nine Delegates.

The thirteen members of the Executive Committee shall belong to different countries, due weight having been given to geographical distribution.

The General Assembly shall elect, from among the delegates, the President and three Vice-Presidents of the Organization.

A two-thirds majority shall be required for the election of the President; should this majority not be obtained after the second ballot, a simple majority shall suffice.

The President and Vice-Presidents shall be from different continents.

The President shall be elected for four years. The Vice-Presidents shall be elected for three years. They shall not be immediately eligible for re-election either to the same posts or as Delegates on the Executive Committee.

If, following the election of a President, the provisions of Article 15 (paragraph 2) or Article 16 (paragraph 3) cannot be applied or are incompatible, a fourth Vice-President shall be elected so that all four continents are represented at the Presidency level.

If this occurs, the Executive Committee will, for a temporary period, have fourteen members. The temporary period shall come to an end as soon as circumstances make it possible to apply the provisions of Articles 15 and 16.

The President of the Organization shall:

The nine Delegates on the Executive Committee shall be elected by the General Assembly for a period of three years. They shall not be immediately eligible for re-election to the same posts.

The Executive Committee shall meet at least once each year on being convened by the President of the Organization.

In the exercise of their duties, all members of the Executive Committee shall conduct themselves as representatives of the Organization and not as representatives of their respective countries.

The Executive Committee shall:

In case of resignation or death of any of the members of the Executive Committee, the General Assembly shall elect another member to replace him and whose term of office shall end on the same date as his predecessor's. No member of the Executive Committee may remain in office should he cease to be a delegate to the Organization.

Executive Committee members shall remain in office until the end of the session of the General Assembly held in the year in which their term of office expires.

The permanent departments of the Organization shall constitute the General Secretariat.

The General Secretariat shall:

The General Secretariat shall consist of the Secretary General and a technical and administrative staff entrusted with the work of the Organization.

The appointment of the Secretary General shall be proposed by the Executive Committee and approved by the General Assembly for a period of five years. He may be re-appointed for other terms but must lay down office on reaching the age of sixty-five, although he may be allowed to complete his term of office on reaching this age.

He must be chosen from among persons highly competent in police matters.

In exceptional circumstances, the Executive Committee may propose at a meeting of the General Assembly that the Secretary General be removed from office.

The Secretary General shall engage and direct the staff, administer the budget, and organize and direct the permanent departments, according to the directives decided upon by the General Assembly or Executive Committee.

He shall submit to the Executive Committee or the General Assembly any propositions or projects concerning the work of the Organization.

He shall be responsible to the Executive Committee and the General Assembly.

He shall have the right to take part in the discussions of the General Assembly, the Executive Committee and all other dependent bodies.

In the exercise of his duties, he shall represent the Organization and not any particular country.

In the exercise of their duties, the Secretary General and the staff shall neither solicit nor accept instructions from any government or authority outside the Organization. They shall abstain from any action which might be prejudicial to their international task.

Each Member of the Organization shall undertake to respect the exclusively international character of the duties of the Secretary General and the staff, and abstain from influencing them in the discharge of their duties.

All Members of the Organization shall do their best to assist the Secretary General and the staff in the discharge of their functions.

In order to further its aims, the Organization needs the constant and active co-operation of its Members, who should do all within their power which is compatible with the legislations of their countries to participate diligently in its activities.

In order to ensure the above co-operation, each country shall appoint a body which will serve as the National Central Bureau. It shall ensure liaison with:

In the case of those countries where the provisions of Article 32 are inapplicable or do not permit of effective centralized co-operation, the General Secretariat shall decide, with these countries, the most suitable alternative means of co-operation.

On scientific matters, the Organization may consult "Advisers".  The role of the Advisers shall be purely advisory.

Advisers shall be appointed for three years by the Executive Committee.  Their appointment will become definite only after notification by the General Assembly.

They shall be chosen from among those who have a world-wide reputation in some field of interest to the Organization.

An Adviser may be removed from office by decision of the General Assembly.

The Commission for the Control of Files is an independent body which shall ensure that the processing of personal information by the Organization is in compliance with the regulations the Organization establishes in this matter.

The Commission for the Control of Files shall provide the Organization with advice about any project, operation, set of rules or other matter involving the processing of personal information. 

The Commission for the Control of Files shall process requests concerning the information contained in the Organization’s files.

The members of the Commission for the Control of Files shall possess the expertise required for it to accomplish its functions.  Its composition and its functioning shall be subject to specific rules to be laid down by the General Assembly.

The Organization's resources shall be provided by:

The General Assembly shall establish the basis of Members' subscriptions and the maximum annual expenditure according to the estimate provided by the Secretary General.

The draft budget of the Organization shall be prepared by the Secretary General and submitted for approval to the Executive Committee.

It shall come into force after acceptance by the General Assembly.

Should the General Assembly not have had the possibility of approving the budget, the Executive Committee shall take all necessary steps according to the general outlines of the preceding budget.

Whenever it deems fit, having regard to the aims and objects provided in the Constitution, the Organization shall establish relations and collaborate with other intergovernmental or non-governmental international organizations.

The general provisions concerning the relations with international, intergovernmental or non-governmental organizations will only be valid after their approval by the General Assembly.

The Organization may, in connection with all matters in which it is competent, take the advice of non-governmental international, governmental national or non-governmental national organizations.

With the approval of the General Assembly, the Executive Committee or, in urgent cases, the Secretary General may accept duties within the scope of its activities and competence either from other international institutions or organizations or in application of international conventions.

The present Constitution may be amended on the proposal of either a Member or the Executive Committee.

Any proposal for amendment to this Constitution shall be communicated by the Secretary General to Members of the Organization at least three months before submission to the General Assembly for consideration.

All amendments to this Constitution shall be approved by a two-thirds majority of the Members of the Organization.

The French, English and Spanish texts of this Constitution shall be regarded as authoritative.

The application of this Constitution shall be determined by the General Assembly through the General Regulations and Appendices, whose provisions shall be adopted by a two-thirds majority.

All bodies representing the countries mentioned in Appendix I shall be deemed to be Members of the Organization unless they declare through the appropriate governmental authority that they cannot accept this Constitution. Such a declaration should be made within six months of the date of the coming into force of the present Constitution.

At the first election, lots will be drawn to determine a Vice-President whose term of office will end a year later.

At the first election, lots will be drawn to determine two Delegates on the Executive Committee whose term of office will end a year later, and two others whose term of office will end two years later.

Persons having rendered meritorious and prolonged services in the ranks of the ICPC may be awarded by the General Assembly honorary titles in corresponding ranks of the ICPO.

All property belonging to the International Criminal Police Commission are transferred to the International Criminal Police Organization.

In the present Constitution:

• 'Organization', wherever it occurs, shall mean the International Criminal Police Organization;
• 'Constitution', wherever it occurs, shall mean the Constitution of the International Criminal Police Organization;
• 'Secretary General' shall mean the Secretary General of the International Criminal Police Organization;
• 'Committee' shall mean the Executive Committee of the Organization;
• 'Assembly' or 'General Assembly' shall mean the General Assembly of the Organization;
• 'Member' or 'Members' shall mean a Member or Members of the International Criminal Police Organization as mentioned in Article 4 of the Constitution;
• 'delegate' (in the singular) or 'delegates' (in the plural) shall mean a person or persons belonging to a delegation or delegations as defined in Article 7;
• 'Delegate' (in the singular) or 'Delegates' (in the plural) shall mean a person or persons elected to the Executive Committee in the conditions laid down in Article 19.

This Constitution shall come into force on 13th June 1956.

Composition of the Executive Committee

www.interpol.int