The Secretary General of INTERPOL is the Organization’s chief official and is appointed for a five-year term in office, which can be renewed once for a second five-year term by the General Assembly.
The role and selection process of the Secretary General is determined by INTERPOL’s legal texts, including the Organization’s Constitution, the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly, the Rules of Procedure of the Executive Committee, the Organization’s General Regulations and its Staff Manual.
The second term of the current INTERPOL Secretary General, Jürgen Stock, will finish at the 92nd General Assembly in Glasgow, United Kingdom in November 2024. The process of selecting the next Secretary General officially began in July 2023 with a call for candidates sent to all INTERPOL member countries.
Selected by the Executive Committee, appointed by the General Assembly
INTERPOL member countries are encouraged to submit applications for persons who meet the criteria set out in the candidate profile, which is set in conformity with INTERPOL’s legal texts. Once the application process has closed on 31 January 2024, the names, countries and current functions of the candidates will be published on INTERPOL’s website.
Following the application deadline, the selection process will be conducted in two phases:
- During the first phase, the Executive Committee will review all applications and draw up a shortlist of candidates;
- During the second phase, taking place during the second quarter of 2024, the Executive Committee will interview shortlisted candidates.
After the interviews, the Executive Committee will select a candidate to propose to INTERPOL’s General Assembly for appointment as Secretary General. The Committee will also submit a report to the General Assembly that attests to the integrity of the selection process and describes the successive stages that led to the Committee’s final choice, as well as the background of the proposed candidate.
The General Assembly will then vote by secret ballot on whether to appoint the proposed candidate as Secretary General.
The vote is determined by simple majority of the member countries present and casting an affirmative or negative vote.
A detailed explanatory note on the appointment of the INTERPOL Secretary General, along with the applicable legal provisions of INTERPOL’s legal texts, can be downloaded below.
