The Ministry of the Interior and Administration () is an administration structure controlling main administration and security branches of the

Polish government The government of Poland takes the form of a Unitary state, unitary semi-presidential republic, semi-presidential Representative democracy, representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Poland, president is the head of state and t ...

. After the

2011 Polish parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 9 October 2011. All 460 members of the Sejm and 100 senators of the Senate of Poland, Senate were elected. The ruling Civic Platform (PO) won a plurality of seats and Tusk became the first Polish pri ...

s, it was transformed into two ministries: Ministry of Interior (Minister: Jacek Cichocki) and Ministry of Administration and Digitization (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''). It has gone through several reforms, including partial splits and mergers, throughout its history. Following the abolishing of the

Ministry of Public Security Ministry of Public Security can refer to: * Ministry of Justice and Public Security (Brazil) * Ministry of Public Security of Burundi * Ministry of Public Security (Chile) * Ministry of Public Security (China) * Ministry of Public Security of Co ...

in 1954, auxiliary departments, including departmental hospitals, nurseries, and the "Konsumy" retail chain, were transferred from the MBP to the Ministry of Interior, headed by Władysław Wicha. First of all, the Ministry of Internal Affairs took over the competences related to the

resident registration A resident register is a government database which contains information on the current residence of persons. In countries where registration of residence is compulsory, the current place of residence must be reported to the registration office o ...

and registration of the population, passport matters (which were soon returned to the security service), supervision over the Citizens' Militia,

ORMO The Volunteer Reserve of the Citizens' Militia (ORMO; ) was a paramilitary reserve organization of the Citizen's Militia (MO), the police force of the Polish People's Republic. ORMO was created in 1946 to help establish communist rule in Polan ...

, KBW, and the Border Protection Force as well as the State Fire Service and the Prison Service. On 14 July 1983 The Act "on the office of the Minister of Internal Affairs and the scope of activities of the bodies subordinate to him" was adopted; the Voivodeship Militsiya Headquarters () were replaced with Voivodeship Offices for Internal Affairs (), and similar steps were taken at the district and regional levels. 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).

Powers and responsibilities

Traditionally, it is one of the most important governmental cabinet positions in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, The ministry is 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 ...

) *** the Polish National Police (Policja) *** the

Polish Border Guard The Polish Border Guard (Polish language, Polish: ''Straż Graniczna'', also abbreviated as SG) is a National security, state security agency tasked with patrolling the Polish border. It existed in the Second Polish Republic, Second Republic er ...

(Straż Graniczna) **

Civil defence Civil defense or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from human-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency management: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, ...

*** 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 used to transport 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 m ...

* the granting of identity documents (

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

identity card An identity document (abbreviated as ID) is a documentation, document proving a person's Identity (social science), identity. If the identity document is a plastic card it is called an ''identity card'' (abbreviated as ''IC'' or ''ID card''). ...

s) and

driving license A driver's license, driving licence, or driving permit 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, car ...

s through the network of

voivodeship A voivodeship ( ) or voivodate 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 ...

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 the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

and organization of political

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

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

Supreme Court of Poland The Supreme Court ( ) is the highest court in the Poland, Republic of Poland. It is located in the Krasiński Square, Warsaw. The legal basis for the competence and activities of the Supreme Court is the Constitution of Poland, Polish Consti ...

)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 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

Second Polish Republic (1918–1939)

Communist era (1944–1989)

Republic of Poland (after 1989)

Notes

References

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

Internal Affairs and Administration Poland, Internal affairs