The GNR is a public body, at the service of the Portuguese people, and is characterized as a "security force of a military nature", normally reporting to the member of the Government responsible for the area of internal administration (MAI). In its organic law (LOGNR)2 the GNR is defined as follows: "The National Republican Guard, hereinafter referred to as the Guard, is a security force of a military nature, made up of military personnel organized into a special body of troops and endowed with administrative autonomy.The Guard's mission, within the scope of national security and protection systems, is to ensure democratic legality, guarantee internal security and citizens' rights, as well as collaborate in the implementation of national defense policy, under the terms of the Constitution and the law."