There's been lots of talk lately surrounding the idea that INTERPOL is issuing Red Notices almost automatically, with no actual review of the request taking place. Some say that INTERPOL is ripe for abuse by certain member countries, while INTERPOL counters that it has procedures in place to avoid such abuses.

Support for INTERPOL's position is found in one recent example of INTERPOL rejecting a Red Notice request from Thailand. The ex-prime minister, Thaksin Thongphakdi, was the subject of a warrant issued after he was sentenced to a prison term, but the country's request for a Red Notice in his name was rejected by INTERPOL. The stated reason for the rejection was that the request did not meet INTERPOL's critera, which could mean anything from the paperwork not being properly submitted to the request being obviously politically based.