Military Counterintelligence Service (SKW)

Status

The Act of 9 June 2006 creates the SKW as a special service responsible for protection against internal threats to the defence of the state (art. 1).¹

The Head of the SKW reports to the Minister of National Defence, without prejudice to the powers of the Prime Minister and the minister coordinating the special services; his activities are subject to oversight by the Sejm (art. 3).¹

Tasks

Among soldiers in active military service and employees of the armed forces, the SKW identifies, prevents and detects, among other things, crimes against peace, crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as offences against the Republic of Poland under Chapter XVII of the Criminal Code (art. 5(1)).¹

The SKW’s tasks also include: cooperating with the Military Gendarmerie and other law-enforcement bodies, identifying terrorist threats to the defence potential, tasks under the Act on the Protection of Classified Information, radio-electronic counterintelligence and cryptographic protection, verifying arms control treaties, protecting units and soldiers abroad, and protecting research and development and production for the armed forces (art. 5(1)(2)–(8)). Abroad, the SKW acts only within the scope of these tasks (art. 5(3)).²

Powers and judicial control

SKW officers carry out operational and reconnaissance activities, analytical and information activities, and activities arising from the Act on the Protection of Classified Information (art. 25); criminal matters are referred to a prosecutor or other competent bodies (art. 27). Operational control is ordered by the Military Regional Court in Warsaw on a written application from the Head of the SKW, submitted after obtaining the written consent of the First Deputy Prosecutor General – National Prosecutor; in urgent cases the head may order it himself and apply to the court within 5 days. An order is valid for no more than three months and may be extended by the court (art. 31).²

The Act prohibits covert cooperation with, among others, judges, advocates and journalists, to a specified extent (art. 41).²

Direction and oversight

The Head of the SKW is appointed and dismissed by the Prime Minister at the request of the Minister of National Defence, after consulting the President, the College for Special Services (Kolegium do Spraw Służb Specjalnych) and the Sejm Special Services Committee (art. 13(1)). The direction of the service’s work is set by the minister in guidelines approved by the Prime Minister; by 31 March the head submits to the Prime Minister and the minister a report on the service’s activities and on budget implementation (art. 7).²

Cooperation with foreign services requires the consent of the Prime Minister, given after consulting the minister (art. 9). The SKW and SWW cooperate with, among others, organisational units of the Ministry of National Defence, bodies reporting to the ministers of the interior, finance and foreign affairs, and other services; the provisions also cover the security of allied forces in Poland (art. 10).²

Predecessor

On 30 September 2006 the Act of 9 July 2003 on the Military Information Services ceased to have effect, and their liquidation was entrusted to the Commission for the Liquidation of the WSI (arts 3 and 4 of the implementing provisions).³

The history of the WSI, including the liquidation and vetting procedures, is described in the Military Information Services entry.^3,4