Provisional arrest
Short-term detention in response to a foreign arrest request, pending a formal extradition file.
Provisional arrest is the mechanism through which a country detains a wanted person before the full extradition request has been received. It is the primary legal consequence of an Interpol Red Notice in many countries: local authorities detain the subject on the strength of the notice alone, holding them for a limited period (commonly 40-60 days) while the requesting country assembles the complete extradition file. If the formal file is not filed within the statutory window, the person must be released. Provisional arrest is only available where a treaty or statute provides for it; some countries refuse to act on Red Notices alone and require diplomatic confirmation before detaining anyone.