Legal basis
The CCF operates within a legal structure defined by its Statute, its Operating Rules, INTERPOL’s rules and applicable international legal standards. See below for these documents.
Update of the CCF Statute
At the 93rd General Assembly held in 2025, a number of amendments to the CCF Statute were approved in relation to the scope of the CCF’s review, the examination of requests by the CCF, and the misuse of CCF proceedings. Below are some key updates and clarifications:
- The CCF cannot review information shared directly between National Central Bureaus (NCBs), unless a serious violation of INTERPOL’s rules is reported, and the issue is brought to the CCF’s attention in the same way as it would be to INTERPOL’s General Secretariat (Articles 3, 19, and 28(1)).
- Access to information transmitted from the CCF to the General Secretariat is limited to authorized staff (Article 23).
- The General Secretariat must notify the CCF if there is any data concerning an applicant being processed in the INTERPOL Information System within 45 days of receiving a request (Article 33 (2).
- If the CCF receives an admissible request at the same time as the General Secretariat is reviewing data about the same individual, the General Secretariat will first make a decision on compliance before the CCF begins its check (Article 33 (5)).
- Clarification of the CCF’s authority to take appropriate measures to address misconduct and/or misuse of CCF proceedings (Articles 25 and 28(3)).
Additional guidance on the procedures for the implementation of these amended Articles will be provided in due course.
Structure
The Commission is structured in two chambers, and is supported by the Secretariat for the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s files. Its powers are defined by the Statute of the Commission (Article 3).
The Supervisory and Advisory Chamber
In its supervisory capacity, this Chamber carries out the necessary checks to ensure that the processing of personal data by the Organization complies with INTERPOL’s rules.
In its advisory capacity, it provides the Organization with advice on any of its projects, operations or sets of rules, either on its own initiative or at the request of the General Secretariat.
The Requests Chamber
This Chamber examines and decides on requests for access to data as well as requests for correction and/or deletion of data processed in the INTERPOL Information System. It also examines applications for revision.
Composition of the Commission
The Commission members are elected by the General Assembly. The terms of office of the members of the Commission shall be five years, renewable once for an additional term of three years. The mandate of all the current members started on 11 March 2022. The current composition of the Commission is:
Supervisory and Advisory Chamber
- Teresa McHenry (United States) - Lawyer with international criminal law expertise (Chairperson)
- Yves Poullet (Belgium) - Expert in data protection (Rapporteur)
- Mohamed Elfadhel Miled (Tunisia) - Expert in electronic data processing
Requests Chamber
- Teresa McHenry (United States) - Lawyer with international criminal law expertise (Chairperson)
- Mohamed Kamara (Lebanon) - Lawyer with recognized international experience in police matters, in particular international police cooperation (Vice-Chairperson)
- Hamza Es-Said (Morocco) - Lawyer who holds or has held a senior judicial or prosecutorial position (Rapporteur)
- Susie Alegre (United Kingdom) - Lawyer with data protection expertise
- Michel Forst (France)- Lawyer with human rights expertise
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