The Ministry of the Interior (Polish: Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych, MSW) was a ministry responsible for internal security, law enforcement, civil defence and registry functions in Poland. The current ministry was formed on 18 November 2011, when after the parliamentary election of 9 October 2011 there was a call to restructure the then Ministry of Interior and Administration, from which it was split. In late 2015 it was folded back to Ministry of Interior and Administration.
The last minister was Mariusz Błaszczak.
History and function
The ministry was founded in 1918. It has gone through several reforms, including partial splits and mergers, throughout its history.
The post of Minister of the Interior is one of the most important cabinet positions in Poland,[1] According to the directive of the 'President of Council of Ministers' (Prime Minister) from 18 November 2011, the Minister of the Interior is responsible for:
- The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes
- State borders' protection, regulation of migration policy and preventing illegal immigration
- Civil defence and crisis management
- 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)[2]
- integration and registration of legal immigrants
- civil registry functions: marital status registration, change of names or surnames
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 seat is located on Stefan Batory Street, south of Warsaw's city centre and in the governmental district which surrounds the Belweder. The Ministry can be referred to by its initials 'MSW'.
Ministers of the Interior (since 1989)
Political Party: PO PiS SLD Independent ZCHN AWS
Other officeholders
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
References