The Ministry of the Interior (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

: ''Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych'', ''MSW'') was a ministry responsible for internal security, law enforcement, civil defence and registry functions in Poland. The current ministry was formed on 18 November 2011, when after the parliamentary election of 9 October 2011 there was a call to restructure the then Ministry of Interior and Administration, from which it was split. In late 2015 it was folded back to Ministry of Interior and Administration. The last minister was

Mariusz Błaszczak Mariusz Błaszczak (born 19 September 1969, in Legionowo) is a Polish politician, historian, and local government representative. Since 9 January 2018, Blaszczak has been the Minister of National Defence of Poland. On 22 June 2022 Presiden ...

History and function

The ministry was founded in 1918. It has gone through several reforms, including partial splits and mergers, throughout its history. The post of Minister of the Interior is one of the most important cabinet positions in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, According to the directive of the 'President of Council of Ministers' (Prime Minister) from 18 November 2011, the Minister of the Interior is responsible for: * The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes ** including the major law-enforcement agencies (see

law enforcement in Poland Law enforcement in Poland consists of the Police (''Policja''), City Guards (named in urban areas Straż Miejska or in rural areas Straż Gminna, which is a type of municipal police), and several smaller specialised agencies. The ''Prokuratur ...

) *** the Polish National Police - safety and public order protection * State borders' protection, regulation of migration policy and preventing illegal immigration ** the Polish Border Guard (Straż Graniczna) *

Civil defence Civil defense ( en, region=gb, civil defence) or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from man-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mit ...

and crisis management ** the

State Fire Service State Fire Service ( pl, Państwowa Straż Pożarna, PSP) is a professional fire fighting service in Poland. It is subordinate to the Polish Ministry of Interior and Administration. The modern State Fire Service is based on the 1992 legislation ...

** Search and rescue and the oversight of ambulance services * the granting of identity documents (

Polish passport A Polish passport ( pl, paszport) is an international travel document issued to nationals of Poland, and may also serve as proof of Polish citizenship. Besides enabling the bearer to travel internationally and serving as indication of Polish ci ...

identity card An identity document (also called ID or colloquially as papers) is any document that may be used to prove a person's identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card (IC, ID card, citizen ca ...

s) and

driving license A driver's license is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public r ...

s through the network of

voivodeship A voivodeship is the area administered by a voivode (Governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in western medieval ...

s * relations between the central government and local governments (except in the case of regional development, which is undertaken by the Ministry of Regional Development *

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

and organization of political

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

s, at the national and voivodeship levels (but the results of the elections are overseen by the

Supreme Court of Poland The Supreme Court ( pl, Sąd Najwyższy) is the highest court in the Republic of Poland. It is located in the Krasiński Square, Warsaw. One of the chambers of the Supreme Court, the Disciplinary Chamber, was suspended by a judgment of the CJ ...

)http://www.sejm.gov.pl/prawo/konst/polski/kon1.htm article 101 * integration and registration of legal immigrants * civil registry functions: marital status registration, change of names or surnames While the ministry of the Interior supervises police forces, it does not supervise criminal enquiries; criminal enquiries are conducted under the supervision of the

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

. The ministry's seat is located on Stefan Batory Street, south of Warsaw's city centre and in the governmental district which surrounds the

Belweder Belweder (; from the Italian ''belvedere'', "beautiful view") is a neoclassical palace in Warsaw, Poland. Erected in 1660 and remodelled in the early 1800s, it is one of several official residences used by Polish presidents as well as a state ...

. The Ministry can be referred to by its initials 'MSW'.

Ministers of the Interior (since 1989)

Political Party:

Other officeholders

Ministers of Internal Affairs of the Second Republic of Poland

Stanisław Thugutt Stanisław August Thugutt (30 July 1873, Łęczyca - 15 June 1941, Stockholm) was a Polish activist and politician during the interwar period of the Second Polish Republic. During World War I, he was a soldier in the Polish Legions. He was t ...

17 November 1918 – 16 January 1919 *

Stanisław Wojciechowski Stanisław Wojciechowski (; 15 March 1869 – 9 April 1953) was a Polish politician and scholar who served as President of Poland between 1922 and 1926, during the Second Polish Republic. He was elected president in 1922, following the assassi ...

16 January 1919 – 9 December 1919 *

13 December 1919 – 9 June 1920 * Józef Kuczyński (kierownik) 23 June 1920 – 24 July 1920 * Leopold Skulski 24 July 1920 – 28 June 1921 *

Władysław Raczkiewicz Władysław Raczkiewicz (; 28 January 1885 – 6 June 1947) was a Polish politician, lawyer, diplomat and President of Poland- in-exile from 1939 until his death in 1947. Until 1945, he was the internationally recognized Polish head of st ...

28 June 1921 – 13 September 1921 * Stanisław Downarowicz 19 September 1921 – 5 March 1922 * Antoni Kamieński 10 March 1922 – 6 June 1922 * Antoni Kamieński 28 June 1922 – 31 July 1922 * Antoni Kamieński 31 July 1922 – 16 December 1922 *

Władysław Sikorski Władysław Eugeniusz Sikorski (; 20 May 18814 July 1943) was a Polish military and political leader. Prior to the First World War, Sikorski established and participated in several underground organizations that promoted the cause for Polish i ...

16 December 1922 – 26 May 1923 *

Władysław Kiernik Władysław is a Polish given male name, cognate with Vladislav. The feminine form is Władysława, archaic forms are Włodzisław (male) and Włodzisława (female), and Wladislaw is a variation. These names may refer to: Famous people Mononym * W ...

28 May 1923 – 15 December 1923 * Władysław Sołtan 17 December 1923 – 21 March 1924 * Zygmunt Hubner 21 March 1924 – 17 November 1924 *

Cyryl Ratajski Cyryl Ratajski (3 March 1875 – 19 October 1942) was a Polish politician and lawyer. Life and career Ratajski was born in Zalesie Wielkie, then part of the German Empire, on 3 March 1875. He graduated from a high school in Poznań and st ...

17 November 1924 – 14 June 1925 *

15 June 1925 – 13 November 1925 *

20 November 1925 – 5 May 1926 * Stefan Smólski 10 May 1926 – 15 May 1926 * Kazimierz Młodzianowski 15 May 1926 – 8 June 1926 * Kazimierz Młodzianowski 8 June 1926 – 24 November 1926 * Kazimierz Młodzianowski 27 September 1926 – 30 September 1926 *

Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski (; 9 June 1885, Gąbin – 31 August 1962 London) was a Polish physician,Waclaw Jedrzejewicz ''Piłsudski: A Life for Poland'' Hippocrene, 1982 Page 246 general, freemason and politician who served as Minister of I ...

2 October 1926 – 27 June 1928 *

27 June 1928 – 13 April 1929 *

14 April 1929 – 29 December 1929 * Henryk Józewski 29 December 1929 – 17 March 1930 * Henryk Józewski 29 March 1930 – 3 June 1930 *

3 June 1930 – 23 August 1930 *

25 August 1930 – 4 December 1930 *

4 December 1930 – 26 May 1931 *

27 May 1931 – 23 June 1931 * Bronisław Pieracki 23 June 1931 – 9 May 1933 * Bronisław Pieracki 10 May 1933 – 13 May 1934 * Bronisław Pieracki 15 May 1934 – 15 June 1934 * Leon Kozłowski 16 June 1934 – 28 June 1934 * Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski 28 June 1934 – 28 March 1935 * Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski 28 March 1935 – 12 October 1935 *

13 October 1935 – 15 May 1936 *

Felicjan Sławoj-Składkowski Felicjan ( uk, Феліцян, ''Felitsian'') is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Gorzków, within Krasnystaw County, Lublin Voivodeship The Lublin Voivodeship, also known as the Lublin Province ( Polish: ''województwo lubelsk ...

16 May 1936 – 30 September 1939

Ministers of Public Security

Stanisław Radkiewicz Stanisław Radkiewicz (; 19 January 1903 – 13 December 1987) was a Polish communist activist with Soviet citizenship, a member of the pre-war Communist Party of Poland and of the post-war Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR). As head of the M ...

( PPR) 31 December 1944 - 7 December 1954

Ministers of Internal Affairs of People's Republic of Poland

Władysław Wicha Władysław Wicha (born June 3, 1904 in Warsaw – died on December 13, 1984 Warsaw) was a Polish politician in the early communist period. Minister of Interior in the years 1954–1964, member of the Council of State (1965–1969), deputy to the S ...

(

PZPR The Polish United Workers' Party ( pl, Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza; ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other lega ...

) 7 December 1954 – 12 December 1964 *

Mieczysław Moczar Mieczysław Moczar (; birth name Mikołaj Diomko, pseudonym ''Mietek'', 23 December 1913 in – 1 November 1986) was a Polish communist politician who played a prominent role in the history of the Polish People's Republic. He is most known for hi ...

(

) 12 December 1964 – 15 July 1968 *

Kazimierz Świtała Kazimierz Czesław Switala (Rakoniewice, Poland on 21 April 1923 – Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis sta ...

(

) 15 July 1968 – 13 February 1971 * Franciszek Szlachcic (

) 13 February 1971 – 22 December 1971 * Wiesław Ociepka (

) 22 December 1971 – 28 February 1973 * Stanisław Kowalczyk (

) 22 March 1973 – 8 October 1980 * Mirosław Milewski (

) 8 October 1980 – 31 July 1981 *

Czesław Kiszczak Czesław Jan Kiszczak (19 October 1925 – 5 November 2015) was a Polish general, communist-era interior minister (1981–1990) and prime minister (1989). In 1981 he played a key role in imposing martial law and suppression of the '' Solidar ...

(

) 31 July 1981 – 6 July 1990

References

{{authority control Interior

Poland, Interior Former ministries 2015 disestablishments in Poland 2011 establishments in Poland Defunct organisations based in Poland