Система обозначения дел в Интерполе

Khroyan K.P.,
Student at the Russian State University of Justice

Scientific consultant Bulanovskaya T.A.,
Associate Professor at the Foreign Languages Department,
Russian State University of Justice, PhD in Philology, Assistant Professor

The system of marking cases in Interpol

Executive summary. This article introduces the reader to the case category designation system in Interpol. In modern world crime rates have increased, making it difficult for executive authorities to disseminate and obtain information about criminals and crimes. Interpol has developed a system of international cooperation against crime to alert the public in advance about persons who threaten the security of citizens. The authors analyse the notification system of Interpol, as well as its statistics in recent years. This system is important because it allows law enforcement agencies around the world to share information on wanted criminals, which increases the likelihood of apprehending these individuals and bringing them to justice and helps protect the public by making it easier to track down dangerous criminals.

Keywords: Interpol Notices, color psychology, color coding, crime tracking, international police agency, community facilitation of justice.

We perceive color everywhere and on everything that we encounter in daily life. Color science has progressed to the point where a great deal is known about the mechanics, evolution, and development of color vision, but less is known about the interrelation of color and psychology [4]. Top scholars in the field provide rigorous overviews of color categories, color symbolism and associations, color preference, reciprocal relations between color perception and psychological functioning, and variations and deficiencies in color perception. The present research is an attempt to take a view both from within and across disciplines to make it informative for anyone interested in color psychology and apply the findings in study course of crime theory. The communication of information through a color-coding system is one of the simplest and yet most effective ways of disseminating information.

The meaning of colors has a much more significant impact on our daily lives than we realize. Each of us associates certain feelings and thoughts with each unique color tint. Before we start focusing on color types in crime theory, we need to understand the psychology of color itself.

Colors can change our perception, alter our senses, excite us, and influence our reaction to our surroundings in unique and exciting ways. They have the power to improve our memory and attention as well as persuade us to make specific decisions [7]. Colors interact with our memory, awaken feelings, and guide our reasoning. These unconscious associations we develop on fundamental aspects of reality save us a great deal of time since they are processed automatically [4]. Professionals such as psychologists, sociologists, linguists, or market researchers each interpret the meaning of colors differently.

In the legal field, colors also have their own unique meanings. For example, Interpol has developed a color-coded notification system. Notices are international alerts used by police to communicate information about crimes, criminals, and threats to their counterparts around the world [6]. They are circulated by Interpol to all member countries at the request of a country or an authorized international entity. The information communicated via notices concerns individuals wanted for serious crimes, missing persons, unidentified bodies, possible threats, prison escapes and criminals’ modi operandi [2]. Notices provide high visibility for serious crimes or incidents.

The main purpose of issuing a notice is to inform proper national authorities about absconding criminals and help them neutralize those criminals [3].

There are several notices issued by the Interpol General Secretariat at the requirements of authorized entities such as National Central Bureaus (NCBs) [1]. These are published in several languages: English, French, Arabic and Spanish. They are issued against the crimes which present a threat to humanity and society [3].

Interpol Notices come in the following types:

· Red Notice;

· Yellow Notice;

· Blue Notice;

· Black Notice;

· Green Notice;

· Orange Notice;

· Purple Notice.

Red Notice is intended to locate and arrest persons wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence. The legal basis for a Red Notice is an arrest warrant or court order issued by judicial authorities in a country [5]. Many of Interpol member countries consider a Red Notice to be a valid request for provisional arrest. Furthermore, Interpol is an official channel for transmitting requests for provisional arrest in a number of bilateral and multilateral extradition treaties, including the European Convention on Extradition, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Convention on Extradition and the United Nations Model Treaty on Extradition [6].

Red Notices are issued for fugitives wanted either for prosecution or to serve a sentence in relation to serious ordinary law crimes such as murder, rape, and fraud [5]. A Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant. The individuals are wanted by the requesting member country, or international tribunal. Member countries apply their own laws in deciding whether to arrest a person. The majority of Red Notices are restricted to law enforcement use only. Extracts of Red Notices are published at the request of the member country concerned and where the public help may be needed to locate an individual or if the individual may pose a threat to public safety [2].

Yellow Notice is designed to help locate missing persons, often minors, or to help identify persons who are unable to identify themselves. It is published for victims of parental abductions, criminal abductions (kidnappings) or unexplained disappearances [1]. This is a valuable law enforcement tool that can increase the chances of a missing person being located, particularly if there is a possibility that the person might travel, or be taken, abroad [2].

Yellow Notice is important because it gives high international visibility to cases, abducted/missing persons are flagged to border officials, making their travel difficult. Countries can also request and share critical information linked to the investigation.

In 2021, Interpol issued 2,622 Yellow Notices, which is much more than in the previous reporting year. The increased number of abduction-related crimes only confirms the importance of spreading information about missing people (especially children). Notifications that contain only the most important information and attract people’s attention will help prevent most crimes, for example, information about a missing child that was sent to the border services in a timely manner can save their lives.

Blue Notice helps to collect additional information about a person’s identity, location, or activities in relation to a criminal investigation.

Black Notice is needed to seek information on unidentified bodies.

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

Orange Notice is a warning of an event, a person, an object, or a process representing a serious and imminent threat to public safety.

Purple Notice is designed to seek or provide information on modus operandi, objects, devices, and concealment methods used by criminals.

In December each year, Interpol publishes statistics on notices issued (Table 1). Thus, according to the data available, Red Notices have been the most numerous in three years. The Orange Notices, in contrast to the Red and Yellow Notices, were the least often issued by Interpol. The statistics suggest that while there is a sufficient number of color notices, Red, Blue and Yellow Notices have priority for Interpol. This is because the cases for which these colors are awarded are of the greatest importance to society, as they can directly threaten public safety and are necessary to prevent crime.

Table 1. Statistical data.

Also, there are Special Notices of Interpol United Nations Security Council. These notices alert police globally to individuals and entities who are subject to sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council [2]. The Interpol – United Nations Security Council Special Notice combines the UN sanctions regime with Interpol well-established notice system into an effective law enforcement tool [1]. Its principal function is to alert national law enforcement authorities that at least one of these forms of sanctions apply:

• Assets freeze: freezing funds or other assets. There is no requirement to seize or confiscate assets;
• Travel ban: preventing an individual from entering or transiting through territories. There is no requirement to arrest or prosecute these individuals;
• Arms embargo: preventing the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of arms and related materials.

Special Notices contain information that identifies the individual or entity and explains the relevant sanctions; this assists law enforcement officers in taking appropriate action in accordance with their national laws [2]. Since December 2017, UN Member States are encouraged to submit photographs and biometric data of individuals for inclusion in these Special Notices under UNSC Resolution 2399. Special Notices are circulated to all Interpol member countries through a secure global communications system, and extracts of them are published on their website [5]. More than 700 Special Notices have been issued since its creation in 2005.

Notices contain two main types of information: identity details (physical description, photograph, fingerprints, identity document numbers, etc.) and 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.) [3].

Notices issued by Interpol must meet some criteria. Such a notice is published if it complies with all the regulations of Interpol and fulfills all the conditions for processing the information as defined by the Rules [6]. If a notice violates any of the rules and regulations outlined by Interpol, which forbids the entity from carrying out any religious and cultural activities, such actives cannot be published. A person subject to notice should be considered innocent until proven guilty.

Separating different kinds of crimes by color helps jurists to generalize and classify legal practice, to inform society about committed crimes. For example, people associating colors with crimes can more effectively assist investigations by reporting information they know to law enforcement agencies. The police and the media often report a variety of crimes, but not everyone is able to memorize text notes or news bulletins. An associative memory, on the other hand, makes it easier to remember unrelated words and complex texts and to retrieve the desired information [7]. Such brief color notices can provide international visibility and facilitate the work of law enforcement agencies with the public and other countries.

The Interpol case designation system shows how the psychology of color can be used to make a more profound impression on a viewer. So, a passerby who accidentally noticed a photo of a criminal with a red notice, realizes what danger they pose to the safety of society and will remember their characteristic features. Thanks to this, they will be able to quickly notify the police about the criminal. In Russia, there is no such system for notifying people or structural divisions of executive authorities. However, such a designation system would greatly simplify the work of the police, because people associate almost all objects and phenomena in their lives with colors: red is a danger; yellow is something to pay attention to; white is security and so on. Using the psychology of people, their associative memory, the state can facilitate the implementation of justice.

Литература

1. Лурье А. Международный розыск: виды уведомлений Интерпола. URL: https://triumph-info.ru/2019/04/mezhdunarodnyj-rozysk-vidy-uvedomlenij-interpola/ (дата обращения 15.10.2022).

2. About Notices. URL: https://www.interpol.int/How-we-work/Notices/About-Notices (дата обращения 14.10.2022).

3. Burbeza Z. A Brief Guide to Interpol Notices. URL: https://legaldesire.com/a-brief-guide-to-interpol-notices . Legal Desire, 2019 (дата обращения 14.10.2022).

4. Elliot A.J., Fairchild M.D., Franklin A. Handbook of color psychology. Cambridge University Press, 2016. 762 p.

5. Gerson R., Cutty T. Red Notices and Interpol Circulars. URL: https://www.gherson.com/extradition-mutual-legal-assistance-and-interpol/interpol-red-notices-and-diffusions/ (дата обращения 14.10.2022).

6. Ovchinnikov A. What are the Interpol notices? URL: https://ovchynnykov.com/en/articles/legal-assistance-before-the-commission-for-the-control-of-interpol-s-files (дата обращения 14.10.2022).

7. The Power of Color. An In Depth Look at the Perception of Law’s Top 3 Choices. ALL-STATE LEGAL. URL: https://psala.org/the-power-of-color-an-in-depth-look-at-the-perception-of-laws-top-3-choices-all-state-legal . PSALAWeb, 2018 (дата обращения 15.10.2022).