Minsk branch of the extra-mural faculty of the Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR was founded according to the directive issued by the Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR of May 16, 1958.
The colonel of militia and the personnel manager of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the BSSR Vladimir Ivanovich Umnyagin, was appointed chief of Minsk branch.
The staff of Minsk branch included the positions of the chief, secretary, senior lecturer, senior specialists of teaching methods, and three teachers. In 1959 the positions of the librarian and typist, and in 1960 - two positions of a teaching staff were added.
At first the branch had no own material resourses and was placed in the several cabinets of Minsk special high school of militia named after Frunze in Varvashenya Str., 6. During studies and examination sessions the lectures were delivered in the classrooms and school-halls, leased from secondary schools of Minsk.
For the entrance examinations the special commission was created. The teachers of high educational establishments, school teachers and workers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the BSSR were invited to take part in this commission.
In 1958 75 students were admitted to Minsk branch of the extra-mural faculty of the Higher School of Ministry of Internal Affairs of the BSSR. By the end of the first academic year 120 students were studying there, including also those officers of militia and internal service, who were transferred from Leningrad to Minsk to continue their study.
In 1960 the first graduates were congratulated by the representatives of the professorial and teaching staff of the Higher School of the Ministry o Internal Affairs, officials of the Republican Ministry of Internal Affairs, chiefs and teachers of Minsk branch of the extra-mural faculty of the Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR.
Mainly the chiefs of the law enforcement agencies of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic, the Baltic Republics, Smolensk and Kaliningrad regions of Russia studied at the faculty.
The experienced professionals and practical workers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic gave at Minsk department of extra-mural education of the Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. And also the most qualified professors of the Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR were sent to Minsk to conduct teaching and methodical work, to give lectures, to take exams and tests.
The staff was being increased together with the development of Minsk department. If there were only seven persons providing the teaching process at the moment of the department foundation, then by the moment of the foundation of Minsk full-time and extra-mural faculty their number had exceeded twenty persons. In December 1966 Petr Yakovlevich Lednev became the head of the faculty. To improve the level of their professional skills the teachers were sent to Moscow Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, other specialised and law higher educational establishments of the country.
According to the instructions of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of July 20, 1964 Minsk department was reorganised into Minsk full-time and extra-mural faculty of the Higher School of the Ministry of Protection of Public Peace and Order of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. It was done by the directive of the Ministries of Protection of Public Peace and Order of the BSSR and RSFSR to train the specialists with higher legal education for the agencies securing public peace and order in the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic.
Minsk faculty received a four-storied building in Varvashenya Street where before there had been a hostel of the Ministry. It was rebuilt into the teaching building with two lecture halls, classrooms and official offices.
When organising the full-time training, there were created some departments, an office of the head of studies, a personnel department, general and specialised libraries, an executive personnel department, a finance department, a photographic laboratory, classrooms. The staffing was arranged by inviting the experienced workers and teachers from the higher educational establishments of the capital, from Minsk and Mogilev Higher Militia Schools and also from the personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the BSSR.
The chiefs of the Higher School of the Ministry of Protection of Public Peace and Order of the RSFSR helped a lot to arrange the faculty’s activity, to improve the mechanism of educational and methodical control of the content and quality of the lessons. The deputy of the head of studies of that higher educational establishment Doctor of Law Professor A. G. Lekar arrived in Minsk many times.
The staff created conditions for the future development of the new educational establishment. At that period it was made practically everything to conduct the teaching process properly in the conditions of full-time education. The faculty’s materiel included classrooms, administrative and other premises. Technical facilities of the faculty included a bus, a training lorry, two automobiles, a motorcycle and a duplicating machine for replication of educational and methodological materials.
In summer 1965 the admission of new first-year full-time students was carried out. According to the conditions of the admission only those entrants, who had practical experience in militia agencies and a special rank of at least junior lieutenant of militia, could apply to the Academy.
Comprehensive planned work was being done to disseminate legal knowledge among the citizens. Almost all the teaching staff and the best students of the School were members of “Knowledge” society and annually gave 600-700 lectures on law-enforcement activity to working people.
In September 1973 the reorganisation of the Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR into the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR took place. Correspondingly, all the structural subdivisions of the School including Minsk full-time and extra-mural faculty were also reorganised. In 1973 it received the status of Minsk faculty of Moscow branch of the extra-mural legal education attached to the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR.
During that period the high educational establishment was headed by the colonel of internal service Demjan Aleksandrovich Gavrilenko. Such teachers and professors as Rezvykh, Sapogin, Romashko, Kalinkovich, Bagraj-Shakhmatov, Porubov, Efimov, Kudinov, Volkov, Andreev, Kolbenkov and others took an active part in the formation of personnel.
Honoured worker of education of the Republic of Belarus Doctor of Law, Professor Gavrilenko still works at the Academy. He also takes part in legislative activity. He has published more than 130 scientific works of total volume of 200 printer’s sheets. Demjan Aleksandrovich is a creative scientific advisor of the post-graduates and researchers, he trains new young scientific generation.
On the 1st of January, 1976 in accordance with the resolution of the Soviet of Ministers of the USSR and the directive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, Minsk Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was established on the basis of Minsk faculty of Moscow branch of the extra-mural legal education. Major General of militia, candidate of law Zyrin Mikhail Ivanovich was appointed chief of the new higher educational establishment. Later the extra-mural faculty, the faculty of advanced training, Vilnius and Riga full-time and extra-mural faculties became the structural subdivisions of Minsk Higher School. The cadets were the workers of militia agencies of Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and some regions of the Russian Federation. Representatives of more than 27 nationalities studied there.
The school trained operatives mainly for the personnel of criminal investigation departments, crime prevention service. Many classes were conducted in subdivisions of militia agencies taking into consideration the actual operating situation and the schemes of combating crime.
Minsk Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR and its predecessors have trained about 10 thousand specialists with higher legal education.
The educational material resources of Minsk Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR with all its educational, administrative and utility facilities are situated in Varvashenya Street, 6. There were only 2 lecture halls of 120 and 60 persons capacity respectively, 10 classrooms and 3 rooms, where there were two studies and a library. The teachers and the administrative staff occupied five rooms.
By 1980 the establishment process of Minsk Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR had been practically completed. That year the first students graduated from the school. The state exams taken by internal and extra-mural students proved a good grounding of the graduates in every subject. The average grades were high.
In 1980 in Minsk the elimination football matches of the XXII Olympic Games took place. The personnel and cadets of Minsk Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR patrolled the streets of the Belarusian capital, secured public order at the Olympic objects, were on duty co-operating with the militia forces.
The personnel of Minsk Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR also secured public order at the XII Youth and Students World Festival in the summer of 1985 in Moscow. The redeployment of practically all the personnel and cadets to the capital of the USSR was planned. It was the first large-scale redeployment of the personnel in the history of the school.
That Moscow festival was one of the greatest mass actions. Thousands of young men and girls from all over the world came to the capital of the USSR. Considering the scale of the festival the proper measures of securing public order were taken. Large forces of militia, including cadets of high and higher educational establishments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs came to Moscow. According to the plan Minsk Higher School was entrusted with one of the most important areas – the Gorky Park, which is situated in the centre of the USSR capital. There all the main festivities were held.
On the night of April 26, 1986 there was an explosion of the fourth power unit reactor of the Chernobyl Power Station. About a quarter of 1850 tons of graphite and part of 190 tons of uranium fuel were discharged into the environment. More than 30 seats of fires were formed. About a quarter of the territory of Belarus is more or less contaminated by radioelements. After the Chernobyl disaster Gomel region alone had 20 out of 21 agricultural areas contaminated. That was more than 1 400 000 people or 87 % of the population of the region.
In accordance with the directive of the head of Minsk Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, Major General Zyrin, 70 men of the regular and over 500 men of the variable staff were sent to secure public order on the contaminated territory of Bragin and Khoiniki districts of Gomel region. They were on duty day and night patrolling settlements by foot details and cars as well as being on duty at the stationary checkpoints.
In 1988 Minsk Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR received the directive from the Ministry to detach a definite contingent of the personnel and cadets to Yerevan for securing public order and fighting crime. Till March of the next year they had been carrying out law-enforcement functions in Armenia and bordering regions where offences against citizens were reported.
In September 1989 the personnel of Minsk Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR secured public order in Stepanakert of Nagorny Karabakh autonomous region.
The combatant service assistant to the head of the Higher School, colonel of militia Gramkovs, was responsible for the first stage of those missions. Later that function was carried out by the head of the Higher School, Major General of militia, Vladimir N. Savichev.
Minsk Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR was reorganised into the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus in 1992. Scientific-pedagogical potential of employees had essentially increased. A lot of scientists took part in educational process. Their names are known within professional circles not only in Belarus and the SIC (the Commonwealth of Independent States) but also in the foreign countries. First of all they are Doctors of Science Basetsky, Vishnevsky, Tchigrinov, assistant professors Sukharkova, Kuchinsky, Sarkisova, Shelkopljas and many others.
There are scientific-pedagogical schools in the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs:
the school of criminalistics - under the supervision of Professors Porubov and Gramovich,
the historical and lawful school – Vishnevsky and Gorbatok,
the crime detection school – Basetsky and Shijenok.
In 1993 post-graduated studies were arranged. That was a significant contribution to training of scientific and pedagogical staff. The first admission of the post-graduates was made for three juridical scientific disciplines.
In 1995 Minsk special secondary school of militia named after Frunze and Mogilev special secondary school of transport militia of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR were incorporated into the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus. The name of the new establishment became “The Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus” and was approved by the decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus of September 1, 1995 № 345.
Before that reorganisation at the Academy there was the extra-mural faculty, faculty for further training, Mogilev faculty. That year the faculty of investigators, the faculty of corrections, a special faculty for training and retraining of forensic experts, the faculty of criminal militia and the faculty of public safety militia were created.
In 1995 by the decision of the Supreme Certification Committee of Belarus the Council of Thesis Approbation was founded at the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In December 1995 the President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Grigorievich Lukashenko paid a visit to the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and familiarised himself with the facilities for training future specialists and met the personnel.
The head of the Academy lieutenant general of militia Vladimir Nikolaevich Savichev was elected deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Belarus and switched over to full-time work in the parliament. In December 1995 Lieutenant General Vladimir Antonovich Danko was designated to the post of the head of the Academy and held the post till 1999.
In 1996 the doctorate department was created which considerably contributes to the training of faculty members.
At the end of 1997 the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus went through state certification procedure and confirmed its status of a higher educational establishment, the Ministry of Education issued the certificate № 304 of January 19, 1998.
From 1999 till 2002 the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus was headed by Major General of Militia Vitali Ivanovich Apanasevich.
In 2001 the faculty of law was created which on a fee-paying basis trains lawyers for law-enforcement agencies and other state-concerned bodies with specialisation in customs and economic law, psychological-pedagogical support of law-enforcement activities.
Leading scholars of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus   Basetsky, Ananich, Vishnevsky, Gavrilenko, Gramovich, Porubov, Tchigrinov, Sharkov   organise and personally perform scientific research work of issues of the day in legal science and practice, participate in preparation and expert examination of draft laws, publish monographs, textbooks and training aids, fulfil preparation of the scientific and pedagogical staff, arrange the research work of the post-graduates, create and develop their scientific streams and international contacts with the scientists of other countries; take an active part in the work of councils, commissions and other legal public formations.
Many teachers and professors of our higher educational establishment permanently participate in the development of actual problems of the theory and practice of law. The scientists of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs render considerable assistance to the authorities of the Republic of Belarus in the examination of law drafts, dissertations. There was created a close collaboration with the Department of the Security and Cooperation in combating crime of the Executive Committee of the CIS.
The important proof of the effectiveness of the scientific work is the inculcation of its results into practical activity of the law-enforcement organs of Belarus and into the teaching process of the educational establishments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic.
Seminars and conferences on actual problems of the activity of law-enforcement organs, regularly held at the Academy, turn out to be a very effective form of the scientific work.
In 2001-2002 the scientific research at the Academy was and still is carried out on more than 50 scientific problems, including the problems of fighting terrorism and other forms of extremism; combating organised crime; unifying the legislation of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation in order to improve the process of catching wanted criminals, etc.
The staff of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs published more than 30 scientific works based on the results of the researches in 2001, in 2002 there were more than 40 works.
In 1999 the post-graduate studentship and the Council of Thesis Approbation were established at the Academy. 1 doctoral thesis and 11 Ph.D. theses were defended in 2001; 3 doctoral thesis and 10 Ph.D. theses were defended in 2002.
Representatives of the Academy’s teaching staff regularly participate in different scientific and practical conferences on international and republican level. The year 1996 is worth to be mentioned here as the scientists of the Academy were involved in preparing and holding 23 international conferences and 12 scientific and practical seminars that took place either in Belarus or in foreign states.
In 2000-2001 our higher educational establishment was visited by the delegation of law-enforcement departments of the USA, England, Sweden, France, Germany and other states. Besides, the 9th International Conference of the rectors and chiefs of the Police Academies of the Central and Eastern European countries (more than 20 countries) and the scientific-methodical seminar on the problems of the higher education were held in 2001 in Minsk at the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
On the 4th of March in 2001, the anniversary of the Belarusian Militia, the Museum of Criminalistics was opened at the Faculty of Criminal Investigators and Experts. The Minister of Internal Affairs, General-Major of militia Naumov, let the right of grand opening to the ex-minister, the chairman of the Belarusian militia veteran council, Lieutenant General of militia, Piskarev. At the Museum of Criminalistics there are more than 200 exhibits, which are used in the educational process to study different forms of criminal activity and methods of counteraction.
For the history of the Academy several generations of qualified teachers, experts and scientists, heads of the courses, employees of the service facilities have taken turns. Each veteran whatever work he performed contributed much to the high-quality training of militia officers. The veterans of the Great Patriotic War who served honestly and wholeheartedly for the welfare of the Academy are respected here.
The colonel of militia Efimchik Yuri Sergeyevich was the head of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus in 2002-2005. He was also a deputy chairman of the full-time commission on law making and state building of the Council of the National Assembly.
Since April, 2005 the Academy is headed by the colonel of militia, Ph.D. in law Melekhovets Yuri Alexandrovich.
Now the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus is a modern educational establishment of a university type. It occupies the leading place in the system of training the personnel for the law enforcement agencies.
Every year the Academy graduates about 1000 highly qualified specialists, who serve in all law enforcement subdivisions. Training of cadets and students is carried out by 19 chairs of the Academy.
The infrastructure of the higher educational establishment consists of 26 buildings and constructions with the total area of about 60 000 square meters. Teaching and material resources of the Academy represent a system which includes 37 specialized teaching and laboratory rooms, 13 computer classrooms, five sports halls, 27 specialized laboratories, offices and criminalistic teaching grounds.
The training of professionals with higher legal education is carried out for the qualification “Legal Sciences” in the specializations: “Detective activity” and “Judicial, prosecuting and investigative activities”.
Since 2006 the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been training experts for forensic and criminalistic departments of the agencies of the Interior in a newly opened line “Forensic examination” awarding the qualification “forensic expert”. The attendance is full-time, the term of study is five years. Provided the graduates completely and successfully accomplish the curriculum they receive not only the Diploma of Higher Education but also the right to conduct seven kinds of forensic examinations such as fingerprint analysis, technical examination of documents, trace examination, graphologic examination, examination of cold and missile weapons, portrait; ballistic examination.
Scientific researches at the Academy are conducted in five major lines: the theory and practice of combating crime, the theory and history of state and law, criminalistics, detective activity, philosophy and economic theory.
The Academy has a museum of Criminalistics containing a lot of material evidence of different crimes committed in the republic, including those of great public concern.
An important and promising activity of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus as a member of the Association of the Higher Educational Establishments of the System of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the CIA’s states-participants, is to cooperate with foreign higher educational establishments in order to exchange experience and to train law enforcement officials.
The range of international partners of the Academy is increasing every year. Cooperation with law enforcement and penitentiary high schools of Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Turkey and other countries is carried out in the framework of bilateral agreements. In 2006 – 2007 law enforcement delegations from Armenia, Germany, Iran, Kuwait, Moldova, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Sudan, Ukraine and other countries have visited the Academy. In accordance with the decision of the Common Board of the CIS Ministries of the Interior of Russia and the Republic of Belarus, Russian law enforcement specialists have been taught in the Academy on a reciprocal basis for a few years already.
The Academy cooperates with a number of international organizations: the International Organization on Migration (IOM), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), etc. These organizations assist in recruitment of foreign specialists to teach at the Academy and the teaching staff of the Academy receives advanced trainings abroad.
The Academy constantly serves as a floor for international seminars and conferences. In 2003 – 2007 lectors and students of the Academy have participated in more than 200 international conferences, symposia, and seminars in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Latvia and other countries.
Besides professors and lectors of the Academy, our students also take part in international conferences and contests. In April 2007 under the auspices of the UNHCR office in Belarus an international contest on migration, citizenship and migration  issues “New Horizon” was organized at the Academy among the students of police/law enforcement profile high schools. The international intellectual tournament “Shield and Sword” and the eloquence contest “Cicero” are carried out yearly here.
In the framework of the initiative of a number of states, announced at the International Conference at the United Nations on 5 March 2007 in New York, the International Training Center on Migration and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings has been established. The Center is opened on the basis of the educational institution “The Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus”.
The main tasks of the Center are:
- to organize basic, advanced and specialized trainings on migration and combating trafficking in human beings;
- to give ground for mastering new management methods, tools and instruments to combat transnational organized criminal activities, such as trafficking in human beings and illegal migration;
- to assist international organizations, Belarusian and foreign law-enforcement agencies, and government bodies in organizing basic, advanced and specialized trainings in migration and combating trafficking in human beings;
- to establish and develop mutually beneficial cooperation with international organizations and funds in the sphere of combating trafficking in human beings and illegal migration;
- to analyze, synthesize and share experiences, gained in the sphere of migration and combating trafficking in human beings, as well prevention of its consequences;
- to enhance the efficiency of transnational cooperation of states and international organizations in the sphere of migration and combating trafficking in human beings, as well prevention of its consequences.
The Center trains:
- government bodies and law-enforcement agencies officials;
- representatives of international organizations;
- representatives of nongovernmental organizations (associations);
- professors and lectors at higher educational law-profile establishments and research institutions.