Ministry

MINISTRY – a government administration office managed by the minister who directs, supervises and controls the activities of subordinate bodies, offices and units. As emphasized in the literature, m. is the ministerial apparatus of the minister, with the help of whom he performs the tasks and competencies assigned to him. In practice, the functions of this office go far beyond the strict implementation of the minister’s instructions and technical activities. M. largely fulfils the role of initiator and inspiration, consisting in preparing the substantive concept of draft legal acts, presenting proposals and proposals for actions, initiating projects in specific areas of matters, and providing expert advice. M. is created, liquidated or transformed by the council of ministers through an act in the rank of a regulation. The following types of organisational units are included in a m.: departments – they are responsible for the implementation of the ministry’s substantive tasks; offices – are responsible for the implementation of service tasks; secretariats – to serve the minister, committees or councils; divisions, sections, teams – as organisational units inside departments and offices. The following organisational units are created in particular in each m.: → political cabinet of the minister and departments, offices or divisions, sections, teams for legal, information, budget, finance, human resources, training, organisation, European integration, foreign affairs, IT, public procurement, administrative-economic, control, complaints, applications, protection of classified information, internal audit. In the organisational structure of each m., the office of the director general of the office is also created. He is responsible for the efficient functioning of the office and the willingness of the office to perform the tasks of the m. in the case of acceptance of the government’s resignation by the President of the Republic of Poland. The director general of the office supervises the organisational units of the m. and ensures the proper performance of the tasks specified by the minister, the secretary of state and the undersecretary of state. The rights and duties of the director general of the office are set out in separate regulations, in particular on the → civil service. The most important legal act of an internal nature regulating the structure of a m. is the statute, passed by the president of the council of ministers, through an act in the rank of ordinance. It is the basis for the issuance of organisational regulations (ministerial ordinance) defining the scope of tasks and the mode of operation of organisational units of the m. and, unless special provisions provide otherwise, units subordinate to and supervised by the minister. The scope of substantive authority of individual m. results to a large extent from the scope of the properties of ministers directing the → departments of government administration [ K. Mroczka ].

Literature: E. Radziszewski, Zadania i kompetencje organów administracji publicznej po reformie ustrojowej państwa [Tasks and competences of public administration bodies after systemic reform of the state], Warszawa 2000 ■ E. Zieliński, Administracja rządowa i samorządowa w Polsce [Government and local government administration in Poland], Warszawa 2013.