Ministry of the Interior and Administration ( pl, Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych i Administracji) is an administration structure controlling main administration and security branches of the
Polish government. After
Parliamentary Election on 9 October 2011 was transformed for two ministries:
Ministry of Interior (Minister:
Jacek Cichocki) and
Ministry of Administration and Digitization
The Ministry of Administration and Digitization ( pl, Ministerstwo Administracji i Cyfryzacji) was formed on 21 November 2011, from a reorganisation of the '' Ministry of Infrastructure'' and the '' Ministry of Interior and Administration''.
The ...
(Minister:
Michał Boni). It was recreated in late 2015.
History and function
The ministry was founded in 1918 as the
Ministry of Internal Affairs (''Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych''). During a reform of the Polish government in 1996 the administration branch was merged into the Ministry and it was renamed to its current name (on 24 December).
That was one of the most important governmental
cabinet positions in
Poland, The ministry was responsible for the following:
* The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes
** including the major law-enforcement forces (see
law enforcement in Poland)
*** the
Polish National Police (Policja)
*** the
Polish Border Guard
The Polish Border Guard ( pl, Straż Graniczna, also abbreviated as SG) is a state security agency tasked with patrolling the Polish border. It existed in the Second Republic era from 1928 to 1939 and was reestablished in the modern-day Thi ...
(Straż Graniczna)
**
Civil defence
*** the State Fire Brigade (Straż Pożarna)
***
Search and rescue
Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...
and the oversight of
ambulance services
An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport.
Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...
* the granting of identity documents (
Polish passports,
identity cards) and
driving licenses through the network of
voivodeships
* 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 and organization of political
elections, at the national and voivodeship levels (but the results of the elections are overseen by the
Supreme Court of Poland)
[http://www.sejm.gov.pl/prawo/konst/polski/kon1.htm article 101]
* regulation of immigration and preventing illegal immigration
* integration and registration of legal immigrants
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 Ministry's headquarters was located on the Stefan Batory Street, south of Warsaw's city centre and the governmental district which surrounds the
Belweder. The Ministry could be referred to by its initials 'MSWiA'.
The last Minister of the Interior and Administration before it was split in 2011 was
Jerzy Miller.
List of ministers
Second Polish Republic (1918–1939)
Comunist era (1944–1989)
Republic of Poland (after 1989)
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry of Interior And Administration of the Republic of Poland
Poland
Internal Affairs and Administration
Poland, Internal affairs