• The Interpol has published its first-ever Silver Notice to help trace and recover criminal assets, combat transnational organised crime and enhance international police cooperation.

• The Notice, requested by Italy, seeks information on the assets belonging to a senior member of the mafia.

• At present, the Interpol has eight types of colour-coded notices which allows a member country to seek specific information worldwide.

• Similar to the notice, a diffusion is issued for the same purposes as notices but sent directly by a member country or an international entity to the countries of their choice. Diffusions are also recorded in the organisation’s police databases.

• While notices are shared with all 196 member countries, diffusions may be directed to selected relevant countries. 

Notices and diffusions contain two main types of information: 

i) Identity details (physical description, photograph, fingerprints, identity document numbers, etc.)

ii) Judicial information (offence with which the person is charged; references to the laws under which the charge is made or conviction was obtained; references to the arrest warrant or court sentence, etc.) 

What is Silver Notice?

• The Silver Notice is the newest addition to Interpol’s suite of colour-coded notices and diffusions, which enable countries to share alerts and requests for information worldwide. 

• It is launched as part of a pilot phase involving 52 countries and territories, which will run at least until November 2025.

• Through Silver Notice and diffusion, member countries can request information on assets linked to a person’s criminal activities such as fraud, corruption, drug trafficking, environmental crime and other serious offenses. 

• It will facilitate locating, identifying, and obtaining information about laundered assets including properties, vehicles, financial accounts and businesses. 

• Countries may subsequently use such information as a basis for bilateral engagement, including bilateral requests for seizure, confiscation or recovery of assets, subject to national laws.

• Stripping criminals and their networks of illegal profits is one of the most powerful ways to fight transnational organised crime, especially considering that 99 per cent of criminal assets remain unrecovered. 

• By targeting their financial gains, Interpol is working to disrupt criminal networks and reduce their harmful impact on communities worldwide.

• The General Secretariat will review every Silver Notice and diffusion for compliance with the organisation’s rules prior to its publication or circulation. 

• This includes ensuring they are not used for political purposes. During the pilot phase, extracts of Silver Notices will not be published on Interpol’s website.

• Participating countries in the pilot will be able to collectively request up to 500 Silver Notices and Silver Diffusions, with the total divided equally among all participating countries.

• The pilot project has participation from 52 members including India.

What is Interpol?

• The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) is an inter-governmental organisation that has 196 member countries.

• It began as the International Criminal Police Commission in 1923, and became the International Criminal Police Organisation in 1956.

• India became a member country on October 15, 1949.

• Interpol enables countries to share and access data on crimes and criminals and offer a range of technical and operational support.

• In each country, an Interpol National Central Bureau (NCB) provides the central point of contact for the General Secretariat and other NCBs. An NCB is run by national police officials and usually sits in the government ministry responsible for policing.

• In India, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) coordinates investigations on behalf of Interpol member countries.

• The General Secretariat coordinates its day-to-day activities to fight a range of crimes. Run by the secretary general, it is staffed by both police and civilians and comprises a headquarters in Lyon and several satellite offices in different regions.

• The General Secretariat provides a range of expertise and services to member countries. Interpol manages 19 police databases with information on crimes and criminals (from names and fingerprints to stolen passports), accessible in real time to countries.

• It supports national efforts in combating crimes across three global areas — terrorism, cybercrime and organised crime.

• The General Assembly is its governing body. It brings all countries together once a year to take decisions.

Interpol notices

• Interpol notices are international requests for cooperation or alerts allowing police in member-countries to share critical crime-related information.

• Notices are published by the General Secretariat at the request of a national central bureau and are made available to all member-countries.

• Most notices are for police use only and are not made available to the public. However, in some cases, for example to alert the public, or to request help from the public, an extract of the notice will be published online.

• A notice is published only if it complies with Interpol’s Constitution and fulfils all conditions for processing the information in accordance with its rules on the processing of data. This ensures the legality and quality of information, and the protection of personal data.

• For example, a Notice will not be published if it violates Article 3 of Inerpol’s Constitution, which forbids the organisation from undertaking any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.

• Notices can also be issued at the request of International Criminal Tribunals and the International Criminal Court to seek persons wanted for committing crimes within their jurisdiction, notably genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. They can also be issued at the request of the United Nations in relation to the implementation of sanctions imposed by the Security Council.

What are the different types of notices?

• Red Notice: It is a kind of international arrest warrant for fugitives where Interpol requests its member-countries to arrest or detain them.

• Yellow Notice: To help locate missing persons, often minors, or to help identify persons who are unable to identify themselves.

• Blue Notice: It is issued to collect additional information from its member-countries about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a crime.

• Black Notice: To seek information on unidentified bodies.

• Green Notice: To provide warning about a person’s criminal activities, where the person is considered to be a possible threat to public safety.

• Orange Notice: To warn of an event, a person, an object or a process representing a serious and imminent threat to public safety.

• Purple Notice: To seek or provide information on modus operandi, objects, devices and concealment methods used by criminals.

• Silver Notice (pilot phase): To identify and trace criminal assets

• Interpol-UN Security Council Special Notice: Issued for groups and individuals who are the targets of UN Security Council Sanctions Committees.

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