Ministry of the Interior and Administration (Poland)
| Ministry of the Interior and Administration of The Republic of Poland |
| Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych i Administracji |
|
| Official governmental wall plaque |
| Agency overview |
| Headquarters |
ul. Stefana Batorego 5, Warsaw |
| Agency executive |
Jerzy Miller, Minister of Interior and Administration |
| Parent agency |
Council of Ministers |
| Website |
| www.mswia.gov.pl |
Ministry of the Interior and Administration (Polish: Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych i Administracji) is an administration structure controlling main administration and security branches of the Polish government. Current Minister is Jerzy Miller.
History and function
The ministry was originally 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).
It is today is one of the most important governmental cabinet positions in Poland,[1] The ministry if currently responsible for the following:
- The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes
- 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 Constitutional Tribunal and administrative courts)
- 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 are located on the Stefan Batory Street, south of Warsaw's city centre and the governmental district which surrounds the Belweder. The Ministry can be referred to by its initials 'MSWiA'.
The current Minister of the Interior and Administration is Jerzy Miller.
List of ministers
Ministers of Internal Affairs of the Second Republic of Poland
Ministers of Public Security
Ministers of Internal Affairs of People's Republic of Poland
- Władysław Wicha (PZPR) 7 December 1954 - 12 December 1964
- Mieczysław Moczar (PZPR) 12 December 1964 - 15 July 1968
- Kazimierz Świtała (PZPR) 15 July 1968 - 13 February 1971
- Franciszek Szlachcic (PZPR) 13 February 1971 - 22 December 1971
- Wiesław Ociepka (PZPR) 22 December 1971 - 28 February 1973
- Stanisław Kowalczyk (PZPR) 22 March 1973 - 8 October 1980
- Mirosław Milewski (PZPR) 8 October 1980 - 31 July 1981
- Czesław Kiszczak (PZPR) 31 July 1981 - 6 July 1990
Ministers of Internal Affairs of Third Polish Republic
- Krzysztof Kozłowski (non-partisan) 6 July 1990 - 14 December 1990
- Henryk Majewski (non-partisan) 12 January 1991 - 5 December 1991
- Antoni Macierewicz 23 December 1991 - 5 June 1992
- Andrzej Milczanowski 11 July 1992 - 22 December 1995
- Jerzy Konieczny 29 December 1995 - 26 January 1996
- Zbigniew Siemiątkowski (SLD) 15 February 1996 - 4 February 1997
Ministers of Internal Affairs and Administration of Third Polish Republic
References