The Minister of the Interior in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 is one of the most important governmental cabinet positions

French government ministers

The Cabinet of France is a body of top administration members of the Prime Minister's Cabinet. In French, the word gouvernement generally refers to the "Administration", but in a narrower sense to the Cabinet.The Council is responsible to the French National Assembly...

, 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 Police in France)
    • the French National Police
      French National Police
      The National Police , formerly the Sûreté Nationale, is one of two national police forces and the main civil law enforcement agency of France, with primary jurisdiction in cities and large towns. The other main agency is the military Gendarmerie, with primary jurisdiction in smaller towns and rural...
      
      
    • the French Gendarmerie for its police operations (as a part of the French armed forces
      Military of France
      The French Armed Forces encompass the French Army, the French Navy, the French Air Force and the National Gendarmerie. The President of the Republic heads the armed forces, with the title "chef des armées" . The President is the supreme authority for military matters and is the sole official who...
      
      , the Gendarmerie is administratively under the purview of the Ministry of Defence)
  • Civil defence and Security Directorate - Securite Civile
    Sécurité Civile
    Operating for the French Ministry of the Interior, the Direction de la Défense de la Sécurité Civile is a French Government civil defence agency, employing some 2,500 civilian and military personnel over 60 sites...
    
    
    • the sub-directorate of Sapeurs-Pompiers or Firefighter
      Firefighter
      Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...
      
      s
• the granting of identity documents (passport
  Passport
  A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
  
  s, identity cards) and driving licenses through the network of préfecture
  Préfecture
  A prefecture in France can refer to :*the Chef-lieu de département, the town in which the administration of a department is located;*the Chef-lieu de région, the town in which the administration of a region is located;...
  
  s;
• relations between the central government and local governments;
• logistics
  Logistics
  Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and...
  
   and organization of political election
  Election
  An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
  
  s, at the national and prefectoral levels (but the results of the elections are overseen by the Constitutional Council
  Constitutional Council of France
  The Constitutional Council is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958, and its duty is to ensure that the principles and rules of the constitution are upheld.Its main activity is to rule on whether proposed...
  
   or the administrative courts);
• regulation of immigration and preventing illegal immigration;
• integration of legal immigrants (professionally, linguistically, housing, etc.);
• all départemental préfet
  Préfet
  A prefect in France is the State's representative in a department or region. Sub-prefects are responsible for the subdivisions of departments, arrondissements...
  
  s and sub-prefects are subordinate to the Minister of the Interior.

The Minister of Interior is also Ministre des cultes and is formally consulted in the process of appointment of Catholic diocesan bishops (Briand-Ceretti Agreement

Briand-Ceretti Agreement

The Briand-Ceretti Agreement is a 1926 agreement whereby French diocesan bishops are nominated by the Vatican after a process involving the French Ministries of the Interior and of Foreign Affairs....

).

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

Judiciary

The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...

.

The Ministry's headquarters are located on the place Beauvau, facing the Élysée Palace

Élysée Palace

The Élysée Palace is the official residence of the President of the French Republic, containing his office, and is where the Council of Ministers meets. It is located near the Champs-Élysées in Paris....

. "Place Beauvau" is often used as a metonym for the ministry.

The current Minister of the Interior is Claude Guéant

Claude Guéant

Claude Guéant is a French civil servant. The former Chief of Staff to Nicolas Sarkozy, he has been Minister of the Interior since 27 February 2011. He is a member of the conservative Union for a Popular Movement .-Biography:...

.

External links

• Official Website in French