Ministry of Interior and Administration (Poland)

The seat of the ministry on Stefan Batory Street, Warsaw.

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. After Parliamentary Election on 9 October 2011 was transformed for two ministries: Ministry of Interior (Minister: Jacek Cichocki) and Ministry of Administration and Digitization (Minister: Michał Boni). It was recreated in late 2015. The current Minister of Interior and Administration is Mariusz Błaszczak.

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,^[1] 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 (Straż Graniczna)
  • Civil defence
    • the State Fire Brigade (Straż Pożarna)
    • Search and rescue and the oversight of ambulance services
• 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 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 was Jerzy Miller.

List of ministers

Ministers of Internal Affairs of the Second Republic of Poland

• Stanisław Thugutt 17 November 1918 – 16 January 1919
• Stanisław Wojciechowski 16 January 1919 – 9 December 1919
• Stanisław Wojciechowski 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 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 16 December 1922 – 26 May 1923
• Władysław Kiernik 28 May 1923 – 15 December 1923
• Władysław Sołtan 17 December 1923 – 21 March 1924
• Zygmunt Hubner 21 March 1924 – 17 November 1924
• Cyryl Ratajski 17 November 1924 – 14 June 1925
• Władysław Raczkiewicz 15 June 1925 – 13 November 1925
• Władysław Raczkiewicz 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 2 October 1926 – 27 June 1928
• Felicjan Sławoj-Składkowski 27 June 1928 – 13 April 1929
• Felicjan Sławoj-Składkowski 14 April 1929 – 29 December 1929
• Henryk Józewski 29 December 1929 – 17 March 1930
• Henryk Józewski 29 March 1930 – 3 June 1930
• Felicjan Sławoj-Składkowski 3 June 1930 – 23 August 1930
• Felicjan Sławoj-Składkowski 25 August 1930 – 4 December 1930
• Felicjan Sławoj-Składkowski 4 December 1930 – 26 May 1931
• Felicjan Sławoj-Składkowski 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
• Władysław Raczkiewicz 13 October 1935 – 15 May 1936
• Felicjan Sławoj-Składkowski 16 May 1936 – 30 September 1939

Ministers of Public Security

• Stanisław Radkiewicz (PPR) 31 December 1944 - 7 December 1954

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

• Leszek Miller (SLD) 1 January 1997 – 17 October 1997
• Janusz Tomaszewski (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 (SLD) 21 January 2004 – 21 April 2004
• Jerzy Szmajdziński (SLD) 21 April 2004 – 2 May 2004
• Ryszard Kalisz (SLD) 2 May 2004 – 31 October 2005
• Ludwik Dorn (PiS) 31 October 2005 – 7 February 2007,
• Janusz Kaczmarek (independent) 8 February 2007 – 8 August 2007
• Władysław Stasiak (independent) 8 August 2007 – 16 November 2007
• Grzegorz Schetyna (PO) 16 November 2007 – 13 October 2009
• Jerzy Miller (PO) 14 October 2009 – 17 November 2011
• Jacek Cichocki 18 November 2011 – 25 February 2013
• Mariusz Błaszczak since 16 November 2015 – present

References