Military Police Directorate

The Military Police Directorate is an internal unit of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff, with the purpose of planning, organizing, coordinating, and controlling military police tasks to meet the needs of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces.

Military Police Directorate
Head of Military Police Directorate, Major General Milan Lazić

The Military Police Directorate performs duties in the scope of the military police, assigned by the Law on the Serbian Armed Forces and the regulations adopted under that Law, the Code of Criminal Procedure, Regulation on Service in the Serbian Armed Forces and other military regulations.

The Military Police Directorate has organizational units for functional capabilities, security and protection, crime suppression, operational and general affairs, and finances.

Within the Military Police, there is also a separate internal control unit that monitors the legality of administering military police powers as well as respect for human rights and freedoms while performing military police tasks. The Internal Control also acts on complaints against the Military Police actions. The Internal Control unit is managed by the Military Police Inspector appointed by the Minister of Defence.

Units directly subordinated to the Military Police Directorate are the Military Police Criminal Investigation Group, Military Police Training Centre, and Centre for Operational and Technical Support of the Military Police.

Major General Milan Lazić is the Head of the Military Police Directorate.

Tasks of the MP Directorate

Military Police Directorate performs the following tasks within the assigned mission:

Adopts a study on the development of the Military Police;
Decides on recruitment and termination of employment within the Military Police, and participates in career management of Military Police personnel;
Serves as the implementing authority for professional training and development programs for members of the Military Police;
Regulates, harmonizes, coordinates, and directs the work of Military Police bodies, units, and institutions;
Conducts oversight of Military Police bodies, units, and institutions concerning the execution of Military Police duties;
Directly manages the execution of certain complex tasks related to Military Police operations;
Creates the necessary conditions for maintaining and enhancing the operational capabilities of the Military Police in high-risk situations, emergencies, and during states of emergency or war;
Prepares prescribed documentation in the field of Military Police equipment and provisioning;
Performs other duties and tasks as defined by laws, other regulations, and general acts.

Background of the MP Directorate

Military Police in the Serbian Armed Forces has a long tradition, dating from the beginnings of Serbia as a modern European state. Written sources from the history of Serbia, on the basis of which one can recognize the inception of the military police, date from 1876 when "police sections" were formed in brigade HQs of the Serbian Army by the Order of Prince Milan Obrenović. The sections were made up of selected gendarmes and soldiers. They were active only in wartime, and they are the precursor of today's military police.

In modern history, the Military Police was established as a separate entity within the Armed Forces on September 14, 1955. It comprised standalone section and platoon level units, with a relatively small number of personnel, who performed tasks in the field of military order and discipline, and some work in the field of security. Gradually, the military police units grew in number and equipment. They were developed in the framework of the security service and, in addition to the above tasks they were trained to perform tasks of security and protection, control and regulation of military transport and crime suppression.

In the period 1955-2004, the Military Police were functionally subordinated to the Security Directorate. By the end of 2004, as a part of organizational changes, the security and military police domains were separated, followed by the establishment of the Military Police Affairs Section, as an independent entity for planning, organizing and managing military police tasks. The Section was reorganized into the Military Police Directorate in 2006.