National Police (Arab Union)

In the Union of Arab Republics (UAR; informally the Arab Union), the National Police (Arabic: الشرطة الوطنية ash-shurṭah al-waṭanīyah) refers to the civilian law enforcement agency coming under the jurisdiction of any one of the 20 republics. Each National Police agency uses the same ranking system, and is responsible for all local- and republican-level policing within the respective republic (namely, preventive policing, criminal investigation, maintenance of security and all other law enforcement activities within and across all municipalities of a republic, patrol of republican highways and other intercity roadways, and provision of all security services for the three branches of the republican government, its officials and related institutions). Each National Police service is an agency of its republic's Ministry of Interior, which according to the Constitution of the Arab Union has jurisdiction over all domestic law enforcement and security matters, excepting those matters which affect two or more republics or the union as a whole.

For example, the Palestinian National Police is the respective civilian police service of the Palestinian Arab Republic, and is an agency of the Ministry of Interior of Palestine. The National Police handle the majority of law enforcement across the Arab Union, while the minority of cases coming under federal jurisdiction are mainly handled by the Arab Union Sheriff Service, which answers to the Attorney General of the Arab Union. National Police services are governed by the National Police Act, 2001. Before that, each republic already had a national police service, but their powers existed according to various statutes and precedents and were thus not uniformly defined. Following the passing of the National Police Act in the Arab Congress, the congresses of each republic each passed the same act at the republican level, officially bringing the police system under republican jurisdiction while establishing uniformity of structure and practice across republics.