Organizational and legal bases of the International Association of Gendarmeries and Police Forces with Military Status (FIEP)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33405/2078-7480/2026/96/1(96)/363039Keywords:
FIEP, gendarmerie, police forces with military status, National Guard of Ukraine, organizational and legal foundations, international cooperation, public security, military formation with law enforcement functionsAbstract
The article, based on the current regulatory framework and up-to-date information from official sources, examines the organizational and legal foundations of the activities of the International Association of Gendarmeries and Police Forces with Military Status (FIEP) and its members. It defines the legal nature
of FIEP as an international association of a coordinating type, operating on the basis of statutory regulation, rotating presidency, a commission-based organizational structure, and consensus-based strategic decision-making.
The study proposes a definition of the concept of the "organizational and legal foundations of the activities of FIEP and its members", clarifies its mission, membership criteria, ethical and human-rights requirements, as well as the legal force of the Association's principal acts and the mechanism for their implementation.
The article broadens the coverage of FIEP's subject composition by systematizing all its current members and grouping them according to institutional type. Based on a comparative legal analysis of the legislation of France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Romania, and the Netherlands, it identifies the common institutional core of gendarmerie-type forces: military status or military nature, a combination of law-enforcement and security functions, as well as mixed or functionally distributed subordination to the authorities responsible for defense, internal affairs, and justice. It is further substantiated that the legal nature of the National Guard of Ukraine corresponds to the material characteristics of a force with military status within the meaning of FIEP, and that the participation of the NGU in the Association has not only representative but also practical significance for improving personnel policy, service organization, international cooperation, the protection of strategic facilities, and the implementation of modern security standards. Specific proposals are formulated for the National Guard of Ukraine regarding the institutionalization of FIEP coordination, the doctrinal and educational implementation of the Association's developments, as well as the development of partnerships with the most relevant FIEP members.
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