What happens if I am arrested in the UK on an Interpol diffusion rather than a Red Notice?

Diffusions operate similarly to Red Notices but are circulated directly between National Central Bureaus rather than published on Interpol’s central database. UK authorities treat diffusions as actionable alerts and may detain individuals pending formal extradition requests. The key difference is procedural: diffusions bypass Interpol’s General Secretariat compliance review, meaning potentially non-compliant requests circulate unchecked. You can still challenge a diffusion before the CCF, and the same legal standards apply. In practice, diffusions are often used by states seeking to avoid Interpol scrutiny, which itself can support arguments of abuse before both the CCF and UK courts.