Interpol

Topics Covered:

1. 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?

1. It is Interpol’s supreme governing body, and comprises representatives from all its member countries.
2. It meets annuallyfor a session lasting approximately four days, to vote on activities and policy.
3. Each country is represented by one or more delegates at the Assembly, who are typically chiefs of law enforcement agencies.
4. 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.