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 The Government of Poland takes the form of a unitary parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the President is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government. However, its form of government has also been id ...

. After Parliamentary Election on 9 October 2011 was transformed for two ministries:

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

(Minister:

Jacek Cichocki Jacek Cichocki (born 17 December 1971) is an independent Polish politician and a former member of the Polish Council of Ministers. Cichocki served as the minister of interior in the second cabinet of Prime Minister Donald Tusk and later as chi ...

) and Ministry of Administration and Digitization (Minister:

Michał Boni Michał Jan Boni (born 10 June 1954 in Poznań) is a Polish politician. He was the Minister of Labour and Social Policy in 1991 and a deputy to the Polish Sejm from 1991 to 1993. He was a member of the Cabinet of Poland from 2009 and was Ministr ...

). It was recreated in late 2015.

History and function

The ministry was founded in 1918 as the

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

(''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 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 ...

, 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 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 (Policja) *** 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 ...

*** the State Fire Brigade (Straż Pożarna) *** 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 ...

) * 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 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 headquarters was located on the Stefan Batory Street, south of Warsaw's city centre and 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 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

Ministers of Internal Affairs of the Second Republic of Poland (1918 - 1939)

Ministers of Internal Affairs of Third Polish Republic

Krzysztof Kozłowski Krzysztof Jan Kozlowski (18 August 1931 – 26 March 2013) was a Polish journalist and politician. He served as Poland's Minister of the former Interior and Administration with the Cabinet of Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki from 1990 until 199 ...

(non-partisan) 6 July 1990 – 14 December 1990 * Henryk Majewski (non-partisan) 12 January 1991 – 5 December 1991 *

Antoni Macierewicz Antoni Macierewicz (; born 3 August 1948) is a Polish politician and the former Minister of National Defence. He previously served as the Minister of Internal Affairs, Head of the Military Counterintelligence Service, and Minister of State in ...

23 December 1991 – 5 June 1992 *

Andrzej Milczanowski Andrzej is the Polish form of the given name Andrew. Notable individuals with the given name Andrzej * Andrzej Bartkowiak (born 1950), Polish film director and cinematographer * Andrzej Bobola, S.J. (1591–1657), Polish saint, missionary and ...

11 July 1992 – 22 December 1995 * Jerzy Konieczny 29 December 1995 – 26 January 1996 *

Zbigniew Siemiątkowski Zbigniew Siemiątkowski (born 8 October 1957 in Ciechanów, Poland) is a Polish politician and political scientist. He was Minister of Internal Affairs, 1996–97, and head of the Intelligence Agency (''Agencja Wywiadu'', or ''AW''), 2002 – A ...

( SLD) 15 February 1996 – 4 February 1997 ''Replaced by the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration (1997)'' ''Office reestablished (2011)'' *

18 November 2011 – 25 February 2013 * Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz 25 February 2013 – 22 September 2014 *

Teresa Piotrowska Teresa Piotrowska (born 5 February 1955) is a Polish politician. She was elected to the Sejm on 25 September 2005, getting 16,716 votes in 4 Bydgoszcz district, as a candidate from the Civic Platform Civic Platform ( pl, Platforma Obywatelska ...

( PO) 22 September 2014 – 16 November 2015 ''Replaced by the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration (2015)''

Ministers of Internal Affairs and Administration of Third Polish Republic

Leszek Miller Leszek Cezary Miller (Polish pronunciation: ; born 3 July 1946) is a Polish politician. He has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since July 2019. From 1989 to 1990 was a member of the Politburo of the Polish United Workers' P ...

( SLD) 1 January 1997 – 17 October 1997 *

Janusz Tomaszewski Janusz Teofil Tomaszewski () (born 13 September 1956 in Pabianice) is a Polish politician. A Solidarity activist, member of Solidarity Electoral Action. He was a vice-prime minister and Minister of Internal Affairs from 31 October 1997 to 3 Septem ...

( AWS) 31 October 1997 – 3 September 1999 * Marek Biernacki ( AWS) 7 October 1999 – 19 October 2001 * Krzysztof Janik ( SLD) 19 October 2001 – 21 January 2004 *

Józef Oleksy Józef Oleksy (; 22 June 1946 – 9 January 2015) was a Polish left-wing politician, former chairman of the Democratic Left Alliance (''Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej'', SLD). Early life and education In his youth he lived in Nowy Sącz, and wa ...

( SLD) 21 January 2004 – 21 April 2004 *

Jerzy Szmajdziński Jerzy Andrzej Szmajdziński (, 9 April 1952 – 10 April 2010) was a Polish politician who was a Deputy Marshal of Polish Sejm and previously served as Minister of Defence. He was a candidate for President of Poland in the 2010 election. Szma ...

( SLD) 21 April 2004 – 2 May 2004 * Ryszard Kalisz ( SLD) 2 May 2004 – 31 October 2005 *

Ludwik Dorn Ludwik Stanisław Dorn (, 5 June 1954 – 7 April 2022) was a Polish conservative politician, who served as Deputy Prime Minister and member of Sejm elected on 5 November 2007. Biography Dorn was born Ludwik Dornbaum, to Polish-Jewish parents ...

( PiS) 31 October 2005 – 7 February 2007 *

Janusz Kaczmarek Janusz Kazimierz Kaczmarek (born 25 December 1961 in Gdynia) is a Polish lawyer, prosecutor and politician. He was National Public Prosecutor from 31 October 2005 to 8 February 2007, and Polish Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration ...

(''independent'') 8 February 2007 – 8 August 2007 * Władysław Stasiak (''independent'') 8 August 2007 – 16 November 2007 *

Grzegorz Schetyna Grzegorz Juliusz Schetyna () (born 18 February 1963) is a Polish politician who has been Leader of Civic Platform and Leader of the Opposition from 26 January 2016 to 25 January 2020. He has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland fro ...

( PO) 16 November 2007 – 13 October 2009 * Jerzy Miller ( PO) 14 October 2009 – 17 November 2011 ''Replaced by the Minister of Internal Affairs (2011)'' ''Office reestablished (2015)'' *

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 ...

( PIS) 16 November 2015 – 9 January 2018 *

Joachim Brudziński Joachim Stanisław Brudziński (born 4 February 1968 in Świerklaniec) is a Polish conservative politician. He was elected (first time) to the Sejm on 25 September 2005, getting 14,731 votes in 41 Szczecin district as a candidate from the Praw ...

( PIS) 9 January 2018 – 4 June 2019 *

Elżbieta Witek Elżbieta Barbara Witek (née Zbanuch; born 17 December 1957, in Jawor) is a Polish politician and former Minister of the Interior and Administration, in office from June 2019 to August 2019, currently serving as the Marshal of the Sejm (). Fir ...

( PIS) 4 June 2019 – 9 August 2019 *

Mariusz Kamiński Mariusz Kamiński (born 25 September 1965 in Sochaczew) is a Polish politician who served as the head of the Central Anticorruption Bureau (CBA) from August 2006 to October 2009. Since 14 August 2019, he has served as the Minister of the Inter ...

( PIS) since 14 August 2019https://www.pap.pl/aktualnosci/news%2C496821%2Cprezydent-powolal-mariusza-kaminskiego-na-stanowisko-ministra-spraw

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry of Interior And Administration of the Republic of Poland

Internal Affairs and Administration Poland, Internal affairs