Topics Covered:
- Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate.
Interpol
What to study?
For Prelims and mains: Composition, objectives and functions of Interpol.
Context: The Central Bureau of Investigation will host the 91st General Assembly of Interpol in 2022 as part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of India’s Independence.
What is Interpol?
- The International Criminal Police Organisation, or Interpol, is a 194-member intergovernmental organisation.
- headquarteredin Lyon, France.
- formed in 1923 as the International Criminal Police Commission, and started calling itself Interpol in 1956.
India joined the organisation in 1949, and is one of its oldest members.- Interpol’s declared global policing goals include countering terrorism, promoting border integrity worldwide, protection of vulnerable communities, providing a secure cyberspace for people and businesses, curbing illicit markets, supporting environment security, and promoting global integrity.
What is the Interpol General Assembly?
- It is Interpol’s supreme governing body, and comprises representatives from all its member countries.
- It meets annuallyfor a session lasting approximately four days, to vote on activities and policy.
- Each country is represented by one or more delegates at the Assembly, who are typically chiefs of law enforcement agencies.
- The Assembly also elects the members of the Interpol Executive Committee, the governing body which “provides guidance and direction in between sessions of the Assembly”.
Assembly Resolutions:
The General Assembly’s decisions take the form of Resolutions.
Each member country has one vote.
Decisions are made either by a simple or a two-thirds majority, depending on the subject matter.
Sources: the Hindu.