What an Interpol Yellow Notice Is
A yellow notice is used to help locate a missing person, or to identify someone unable to identify themselves. It asks member countries for assistance in finding a person — not for their arrest, and not because they are suspected of anything. A substantial share concerns minors.
The instrument is worth understanding for a reason that is not obvious: a yellow notice can also be requested in circumstances that are contested — a family dispute crossing borders, for instance, where one side reports the other as missing. Data recorded on that basis is subject to the same rules on accuracy and purpose as any other, and can be reviewed. If that is your situation, speak to a lawyer about your Interpol file before anything else.
What a yellow notice contains
- Purpose
- To locate a missing person, or identify a person who cannot identify themselves.
- Requested action
- Assistance in locating. No arrest is requested and no offence is alleged.
- Requested by
- A member country, usually following a report to national police.
- Visibility
- A proportion is published, because publicity assists the purpose.
- Counterpart
- A black notice covers the unidentified-remains side of the same problem.
Not an allegation
Being named in a yellow notice says nothing about conduct. The instrument that does allege something, and that asks for detention, works entirely differently — what an Interpol red notice is.
Frequently asked
Can a yellow notice lead to arrest?
No. It requests assistance in locating a person, and alleges no offence.
Can a yellow notice be removed?
Yes. Data held under it is subject to the same rules on accuracy and purpose, and the same Commission reviews it.
the full set of Interpol notices — and which of them concern living persons.