Slovak Republic

Functions and missions

The Slovak Police Force is a part of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic. The Police Main Headquarters (the Presidium of the Police Force), 8 regional police headquarters, 53 district police headquarters and several educational and specialized police institutions compose it. The headquarters is situated in Bratislava. The Police President, who answers to the Minister of the Interior, heads the Police Force.

The Police Force is an armed security corps, which performs tasks in matters of internal order, security, fighting against crime including all of its organized forms and international forms, and tasks according to the international obligations of the Slovak Republic. The activity of the Police Force is subordinated to the control of the National Council of the Slovak Republic and the Government. The Police Force is in the performance of its tasks governed by the Constitution, constitutional laws, laws and other generally binding legal regulations and international treaties, to which the Slovak Republic is bound.

The main tasks of the National Police Force:

• Protection of life, health and security of people and the protection of property;
• Personal security of the President and other VIPs;
• Crime detection and investigation;
• Protection of special premises;
• Public order maintenance and restoring;
• Road traffic security supervision;
• Minor offences detection;
• Search for persons and objects;
• State administration duties;
• Crime prevention;
• Protection of state borders;
• Traffic control and safety.

Structure and organization

The Headquarters of the Police Force has the following departments:

• President of the Police Force
  • 1st Vice-President
    • Office of the 1st Vice-President
    • Criminal Analyses Coordination Department
    • Criminal Police Bureau
    • Institute of Forensic Sciences
    • Special Police Activities Bureau
    • Department of Specialized Services
    • Department of Protective Services t
  • Vice President
    • Office of the Vice-President
    • Uniformed Police Department
    • Traffic Police Department
    • Department of Documents and Registers
    • Police Dogs and Mounted Police Department
    • Railway Police Department
    • Lynx Commando (S.W.A.T.)
    • Bureau of the Border and Foreign Police
  • Vice-President
    • Office of the Vice-President
    • Department of Prognosis
    • Department of Program Management and Inter-ministerial Coordination
    • Premises Protection Department
    • Department of Supervision
    • Department of Acquisition and Innovation
    • Police Training Department
    • Department of Police Information Systems Administration
    • Private Security Services Bureau
  • Department of Communication and Prevention
  • The Office of the President
  • National Crime Agency
  • Control Department
  • Bureau of International Police Cooperation 

The organization of the Slovak National Police pursues the administrative division of the country into eight regions (Bratislava, Trnava, Nitra, Trenčín, Žilina, Banská Bystrica, Prešov and Košice) and 53 districts.

Education/Training

Professional education and training of police officers is provided by Police Colleges and the Police Academy, which offer the following:

• Police Colleges in Pezinok and Košice,  study program specializing at security services;
• Police College in Bratislava, study program focused on public order, transport, criminal police, border and foreign police;
• Police Academy, University program under the Ministry of Interior providing higher education with a specialization in security services and non-governmental security service; three-year Bachelor’s Degree and four-year Master’s Degree. The Academy accepts officers who have graduated from one of the Police Colleges with a minimum of two years’ field experience, provided they are physically and psychologically suitable.

Oversight

The Section of Supervision and Inspection Service of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic is a specialized supervising unit of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic, acting within the scope of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic and inspection service of the Police Force and reporting directly to the Minister of Interior of the Slovak Republic. The Inspection Service Bureau within the Section of Supervision and Inspection Service of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic plays decisive role in combating crimes of the police officers. Inspection Service is responsible for disclosing and investigating crimes committed by active or former police officers, if the crime was perpetrated during their service period and if police officers are suspects in crimes committed prior to their service. Activities of Inspection Service are guided by the Constitution of the Slovak Republic, constitutional laws, laws and other generally binding legal regulations and international covenants binding the Slovak Republic.

Functions and missions

The Bureau of Border and Foreign Police (BFPB) of the Presidium of the Police Force was established in April 2000 as an authority with competences for the whole country in the field of ensuring controls on the borders of the Slovak Republic. Currently, the most important task of the BFPB is the “integrated border management” in the Slovak Republic. Integrated border management is one of the key elements in ensuring the common area of freedom, security and justice in the European Union.

Main tasks and responsibilities of the BFPB:

• manages, guides, coordinates and controls the work of border police and foreign police,
• ensures and is responsible for the control of the external border, which includes carrying out border controls, as well as border surveillance,
• cooperates within the responsibilities and tasks carried out by opening, closing and changes in the character of the border crossing points on the external borders of the European Union (EU),
• is responsible for carrying out tasks within the temporary reintroducing of the internal borders of the EU,
• ensures fulfilment of international obligations and tasks resulting from the membership of the BFPB in the FRONTEX Agency,
• carries out the tasks related to answering the inquiries of the police units, judicial authorities, prosecution authorities, Slovak Intelligence Service and the Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic on the border crossing points regarding the ban of movement of the persons, vehicles and things,
• ensures fulfilling of tasks in the field of fight against falsifying and forging travel documents, visa, residence permits and other documents,
• ensures training of the police officers in its competence in the field of detection of new forms and methods of falsification, forge of travel documents and other documents,
• ensures and is responsible for the work of Main Border Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Republic and carries out tasks resulting from international agreements on regime and cooperation at the State Border, from bilateral agreements containing the question of the border control,
• issues the drafts of legislative acts, international agreements, acts transposing EU directives and of internal regulations regarding the competence of the BFPB, cooperates in initiating other legal regulations,
• ensures and coordinates activities related to carrying out of the expulsion and placing foreigners into detention centres for the foreigners,
• ensures and coordinates activities related to carrying out of readmission of persons and police transfers through the external border,
• cooperates in the activities related to the carrying out of the readmission of persons and police transfers on the internal border of the EU,
• fulfils tasks in the field of visa policies and visa practice,
• issues binding opinions for the directorates of the border and foreign police and for the Directorate of Foreign Police in the issue of granting permanent residence to foreigners from the purpose of the foreign policy interest of the Slovak Republic,
• carries out intelligence and search with the aim of prevention and detection of organized, repeated and serious crime related to crossing the State Borders and illegal stay in the territory of the Slovak Republic and searches for information on operational situation and coordinates the measures in the fight against organized crime,
• carries out investigation and methodically guides and carries out summary investigation in the extent stipulated by internal regulation,
• settles disputes on local competence in summary investigation,
• coordinates fulfilment of tasks of the basic units of the border police and foreign police in the field of organizing the information exchange, police measures, verification of identity of persons entering the territory of the Slovak Republic without valid travel documents,
• carries out tasks in the field of information exchange,
• carries out risk analysis in connection with ensuring border control and fight against irregular migration,
• carries out tasks of central authority in the field of irregular migration, particularly for the exchange of information with Europol and Visegrad Group (V4),
• administers statistical reviews, is a contact point for processing European statistic reviews in the field of migration and stay according to the EU law, fulfils tasks of governing and administering data of the BFPB databases; carries out activities related to administration of databases of the border police and foreign police.

Structure and organization

The BFPB is integrated in the organizational framework of the Presidium of the Police Force in the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic. Within its organizational framework, there are three levels of management, on a central level, regional level and local level (for the organizational structure of the central level, please find the information attached to the 'Structure and organization' part of the National Police Force).

The Directorate of Border and Foreign Police in Sobrance is responsible, at a regional level, for the whole area of external land border with Ukraine. It directly manages ten units of border control of the Police Force. These units are responsible, at a local level, for carrying out border control and border surveillance on the external border.

Exercise of a border control is based on a 4-level system of control:

•  At the first level, there is technical equipment placed exactly on the external border (for example continual camera network EBAS).
• At the second level, there are powers and means of “first line units” directly on the external border and in its close vicinity (police officers of the unit of border control of the Police Force).
•  At the third level, there are own powers and means of the units of the Directorate of the Border and Foreign Police Sobrance (mobile intervention unit).
• The fourth level is created by “helpful level”, which is ensured by individual regional directorates of the Police Force in Prešov and Košice (particularly traffic police and police responsible for public order).

The control of the external aerial border at the airports in Bratislava, Košice and Poprad is ensured by units of border control of the Police Force within nonstop duty 24/7. Besides ensuring a control of borders, they have co-responsibilities also in the field of protection of civil aviation traffic together with the security units of the airport.

The National Unit for Fight against Irregular Migration is responsible for detection and investigation of cross border crime connected to irregular migration. This unit makes organizational part of the BFPB.

Units of Foreign Police of the Police Force are primarily responsible for the control of the foreigners in the territory of the Slovak Republic. These units are integrated in the organizational structure of the BFPB as basic units at a local level. By carrying out their tasks, they use also the help of other services of the Police Force, such as police units responsible for public order, traffic, as well as criminal police.

Education/Training

Employees and staff of the Bureau of Border and Foreign Police are trained and educated at the Academy of the Police Force in Bratislava, alongside with other students from that Force.

Oversight

The BFPB as a part of the National Police Force is subject to the same oversight mechanisms as the general Police Force.

National Crime Agency (NAKA) was created on 1 December 2012 as a successor agency after the Office on Combating Corruption and the Office on Combating Organised Crime ceased to exist. On 1 February 2017 National Counter-terrorism Unit (NPTJ) was created as a new unit of the NAKA after the Department on Combating Terrorism and the Department on Extremism and Spectators´ Violence ceased to exist. Reasons behind the creation of the NAKA were enhancing the effectiveness of the activity in combating crime that in its nature presents the most serious forms of punishable conduct and preventing overlaps in operational work and criminal procedures. 

Functions and missions

NAKA specializes particularly on the detection and investigation of serious economic and property-related crime, corruption-related crime, crime of organised and dangerous groups, serious drug-related crime, crimes of terrorism and extremism, which are usually bound to the competence of the Specialised Crime Court. NAKA has the material competence if the crime suspect is a specified special subject.

When carrying out their professional activities, the units of NAKA actively cooperate with international institutions and organisations, with foreign partners´ services and their liaison officers and with our police liaison officers accredited at the embassies abroad. NAKA actively participates in Joint Investigation Teams (JIT) and in several international working groups, projects and seminars.

Structure and organisation

NAKA is in a central way organized operational, analytical and organisational-coordination part of the Presidium of the Police Force and is directly subordinated to the President of the Police Force. Within the structure of the NAKA there is also the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU Slovakia) as well as the Asset Recovery Office (ARO Slovakia). NAKA is divided into the following units:

• National Counter-terrorism Unit (NPTJ)
• National Anti-corruption Unit (NPKJ)
• National Anti-crime Unit (NPZJ)
• National Financial Police Unit (NJFP)
• National Anti-drug Unit (NPDJ)
• Financial Intelligence Unit (FSJ – FIU)
• Department of Management Support (OPR)

National Counter-terrorism Unit (NPTJ)

Functions and missions

NPTJ detects and investigates especially the crimes of terrorism (the crime of establishing, masterminding and supporting of a terrorist group, the crime of terror, the crime of terrorist attack, the crime of some forms of participation in terrorism, the crime of financing terrorism, the crime of travelling for the purpose of terrorism and the crime committed with the motivation to commit some of the crimes of terrorism) and also the crimes of extremism.

NPTJ is the primarily responsible party for the National Action Plan on Fight against Terrorism for the years 2015 – 2018.

NPTJ is also the primarily responsible party for the Conception of the Fight against Extremism for the years 2015 – 2019.

NPTJ fulfils the tasks resulting from the activity of the National Security Analysis Centre.

Structure and organisation

NPTJ is divided into the following parts: 

• Branch Office Bratislava
• Branch Office West
• Branch Office Centre
• Branch Office East
• Screening Centre on Terrorism
• Screening Centre on Extremism

National Financial Police Unit (NJFP)

NJFP detects and investigates especially the most serious forms of crimes against property and economic crimes, mainly tax-related crimes, where the inflicted damage or the gained benefit is at least 25 thousand times higher than the small damage according to the Penal Code (6 650 000 EUR), which at the same time are related to the competence of the Specialised Crime Court.

Asset Recovery Office (ARO Slovakia) is part of the NJFP. NJFP actively cooperates with the authorities of the Financial Administration.

National Anti-corruption Unit (NPKJ)

NPKJ detects and investigates especially the crimes of passive bribery, active bribery, trading in influence, electoral corruption and sports corruption, crimes of deceitful practices in public procurement and public auction, crimes of damaging financial interests of the European Union, as well as crimes whose suspect is a special subject, where the supervision in adhering to the lawfulness is carried out by the Special Prosecutor´s Office of the General Prosecutor´s Office of the Slovak Republic.

National Anti-crime Unit (NPZJ)

NPZJ detects and investigates the most serious crimes, which from the point of view of the object protected by Penal Code create the primary basis of the protected values, which are the life and health of the human being, their freedom and dignity.

NPZJ detects and investigates especially the crimes of assassination, the murder crimes, the crimes of establishing, masterminding and supporting a criminal group, the particularly serious crimes perpetrated by a criminal group, the crimes of illegal manufacturing of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, poisons or precursors, their possession and trafficking in them and the crimes of illegal arming and trafficking in arms

From organisational point of view, the NPZJ provides for the activity of the Interventional Group of the NAKA.

Through the Division of Illegal Trafficking in Firearms, the NPZJ fulfils the role of the national coordinator in the field of fight against illegal production, possession and trafficking in firearms, ammunition and explosives.

National Anti-drug Unit (NPDJ)

NPDJ detects drug-related crime, especially with the international element, e.g. falsifying and illegal handling in medicines, medicinal substances, medical tools and substances with hormonal effect. It fulfils the tasks in the field of specialized public administration in the area of control of drug precursors and performs monitoring of handling in banned chemicals and precursors with a view to finding out the forms and methods of their diversion. It is also responsible for the issue of controlled delivery for the area of illegal import, export or transport of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, precursors or other chemicals. NPDJ also operationally protects Slovak airports.

Financial Intelligence Unit (FSJ – FIU Slovakia)

FSJ has a position of a central national unit in the area of preventing and detecting laundering of the proceeds of crime and financing terrorism. It monitors and detects illegal financial operations and criminal activity in the field of the capital market and financial market; identifies and defines out of the analysis of the received unusual transactions the methods and trends in laundering of the proceeds of crime and financing terrorism, and at the same time does the update of them. It uses the status of a control body towards obliged entities and at the same time the status of an administrative body. It represents the Slovak Republic at the working meetings of the Committee of the Council of Europe MONEYVAL.

Department of Management Support (OPR)

The main tasks of the OPR are operational crime analyses, the coordination and providing for information flows, (IS NAKATOK), monitoring of criminal groups, international cooperation and activities related to planning, control, personal agenda, protection of classified information, and equipment logistics, providing information in line with the law on free access to the information, legislative activities, fulfilling various tasks from the decrees of the government of the Slovak Republic and organisational activities inside the NAKA.

Functions and missions

The Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS) is a state authority that was established as a civil intelligence and security service to protect the Slovak Republic and its interests. Within its competence and powers, SIS collects and provides the legally defined recipients with the information on the most critical threats to the constitutional system, internal order and security, as well as the information focused on the protection of foreign political and economic interests of the state. SIS averts security threats to the Slovak Republic and the EU and NATO member states and protects the international community. SIS closely cooperates with partner intelligence services and international organizations.

Within the scope of its competence and powers, SIS collects and provides the legally defined recipients with the information on the most critical threats to the constitutional system, internal order and security, as well as the information focused on the protection of foreign political and economic interests of the state. In compliance with the applicable SIS Strategic Security Focus, the Service focuses mainly on counter-terrorism and organized crime, crimes endangering the foundations of the Slovak Republic and its security, extremism, illegal migration, money laundering and proliferation.

In the economic area, SIS monitors mainly uneconomical or fraudulent management of state and municipality assets, corruption and cronyism in state administration and municipalities, serious tax and customs frauds and threats to the energy security of the Slovak Republic.

In the foreign and security areas SIS monitors chiefly critical and conflict regions, and potential impacts of international security and economic crises on the interests, security and economy of the Slovak Republic.

In the area of intelligence security, SIS focuses on the protection of classified information and on activities of foreign intelligence services. It also participates in personnel vetting and industrial security clearance processes.

SIS actively cooperates with partner intelligence services and international organizations to avert security threats to areas the Slovak Republic and the EU and NATO member states focus on in order to protect the security of the international community.

Structure and organization

SIS uses an integrated model of intelligence service - it performs both counter-intelligence and foreign intelligence tasks. The Director General is nominated by the Government and appointed by the President of the Slovak Republic; he manages and represents SIS in the public. The SIS Director General presents an annual report to the National Council of the Slovak Republic at least once a year.

• SIS Director General
  • Deputy Director for Intelligence
  • Deputy Director for Administration and International Affairs
  • Accounting and Logistics
  • Human Resources and Training
  • Compliance
  • Internal Security
  • Internal Audit
• National Security Analytical Centre (NBAC) - SIS analytical, communication and cooperation countrywide centre that identifies security threats. Major NBAC tasks include assessing security incidents reported by the Slovak state authorities analytically and comprehensively, monitoring the security situation in Slovakia from open sources and providing analytical products on security threats in Slovakia to the defined recipients.

Education/Training

The SIS has its own Training Centre incorporated into the Service.

Oversight

External oversight of SIS is performed by:

• The National Council of the Slovak Republic via the special oversight committee (§5 of the Act) consisting of MPs of governmental political parties and opposition political parties. An opposition representative usually chairs the committee; the SIS Director General also submits the annual report on completion of legally assigned tasks to the National Council once a year. The Parliament plays key oversight and regulatory roles in approving the SIS budget. 
• The Government of the Slovak Republic that connects management and guarantee systems and supervises budget discipline. 
• Courts and the prosecutor’s office, if there is a reason to believe SIS breached the law or if the judge approves the use of technical intelligence means.

Internal control of SIS is executed at each management level and by the special controlling unit covering all areas of the Service.

SIS internal rules regulate the conduct of audits and controls, rights and obligations of auditors and subjects of audit, define structure and organization of internal audit and control systems and their mutual relations.

Functions and missions

The NSA Slovak Computer Emergency Response Team (SK-CERT) unit provides the services related to the management of security incidents, removal of consequences thereof and subsequent recovery of information system activities in collaboration with the owners and system operators. SK-CERT performs the tasks of the national CSIRT unit.

SK-CERT is an accredited member of TI and FIRST and has an excellent working status with the EU and the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA). Since 1 January 2016, the SK-CERT has taken over the task of a national point of contact for cybersecurity in relation to the NATO, OSCE and European Union. This, inter alia, means a strong international representation at the level of working groups of the Council of the European Union and the European Commission as well as the relationship building with ENISA in an effective way in which the representative of the Authority is also a member of the Board of Directors representing the Slovak Republic.

Another activity is the participation in international exercises such as Cyber Coalition, annually organized by the NATO. At the same time, the unit acts as a co-organizer of that exercise in conditions of the Slovak Republic.

Structure and organization

SK-CERT is a national CSIRT of Slovakia and it was established as an independent section of National Security Authority. At the head of SK-CERT is its director.

National CSIRT unit SK-CERT provides both proactive and reactive services.

Reactive services directly respond to resulting threats and incidents. The most important task of SK-CERT in this field is the response to and handling of cybersecurity incidents. SK-CERT provides the following services:

• Alerts and Warnings – SK-CERT issues alerts and addresses warnings to its constituency as well as to other addresses if required or relevant.
• Incident Handling – this service is the most important and the most frequently provided service of SK-CERT. In fact, it is handling of cybersecurity incidents, their analysis, coordination of entities and cooperation with them.
• Forensic Analysis – SK-CERT enables its constituency and other subjects, if necessary, to perform an in-depth forensic analysis of for example a malicious code, attacked systems or devices and so on.

Proactive services ensure early detection and prevention of cybersecurity incidents. SK-CERT provides the following services:

• Announcements – SK-CERT distributes security announcements in the form of regular Security Bulletins, which are available also on the website.
• Technology Watch – Within this service, SK-CERT monitors the development and distribution of new technologies in order to detect potential new security threats.
• Security Audits or Assessments– one of the SK-CERT services is also to control and conduct an audit to respective elements of cyberspace if they observe the mandatory regulations and to identify the level of cybersecurity.
• Configuration and Maintenance of Security – SK-CERT issues the recommendations to respective elements regarding the configuration and setting the security policies and procedures in cyberspace.
• Intrusion Detection Services – SK-CERT performs the supervision and detection of possible intrusion into important systems by malicious tools. SK-CERT uses special tools created to detect such penetrations.

Security-Related Information Dissemination – it is one of the most important services of SK-CERT because it covers not only information dissemination but also creation of knowledge base of the national CSIRT and archiving of reports, announcements, warnings, etc. which may serve as a basis for handling of cybersecurity incidents, for creating of cybersecurity politics and so on.