General Assembly

Our membership comes together annually in the General Assembly to vote on activities and policy.

The General Assembly is INTERPOL’s supreme governing body, comprising representatives from each of our member countries. It meets once a year and each session lasts around four days.

Each member country may be represented by one or several delegates who are typically chiefs of police and senior ministry officials.

Its purpose is to ensure that INTERPOL’s activities correspond to the needs of our member countries. It does this by determining the principles and measures for the Organization to reach its objectives, and by reviewing and approving the programme of activities and financial policy for the coming year.

In addition, the General Assembly elects the members of the Executive Committee, the governing body which provides guidance and direction in between sessions of the Assembly.

On the agenda each year are also the major crime trends and security threats facing the world.

As the largest global gathering of senior law enforcement officials, the General Assembly also provides an important opportunity for countries to network and share experiences.

One country, one vote

The General Assembly takes decisions in the form of Resolutions. Each member country represented has one vote. The decision-making process is made by either a simple or two-thirds majority, depending on the subject matter. These Resolutions are public documents and available from 1960 to the current date on this site.