|
||||||||||||||||||
|
THE AUDITOR-GENERAL AND THE DEPUTY AUDITOR-GENERAL
Article 115
1. The President and the Vice-President of the Republic shall appoint jointly two fit and proper persons one to be the Auditor-General and the other to be the Deputy Auditor-General:
Provided that the Auditor-General and the Deputy Auditor-General shall not belong to the same Community.
2. The Auditor-General shall be the Head and the Deputy Auditor-General shall be the Deputy Head of the Audit Office of the Republic which shall be an independent office and shall not be under any Ministry.
3. The Auditor-General and the Deputy Auditor-General shall be members of the permanent public service of the Republic and shall not be retired or removed from office except on the Mm grounds and in like manner as a judge of the High Court.
Article 116
1. The Auditor-General assisted by the Deputy Auditor-General shall on behalf of the Republic, control all disbursements and receipts and audit and inspect all accounts of moneys and other assets administered and of liabilities incurred by or under the authority of the Republic and for this purpose he shall have the right of access to all books, records and returns relating to such accounts and to places where such assets are kept.
2. The Auditor-General assisted by the Deputy Auditor-General shall exercise all such other powers and shall perform all such other functions and duties as are conferred or imposed on him by law.
3. The powers, functions and duties of the Auditor-General provided in this Chapter may be exercised by him in person or by such subordinate officers acting under and in accordance with his instructions.
4. The Auditor-General shall submit annually a report on the exercise of his functions and duties under this Chapter to the President and the Vice-President of the Republic who shall cause it to be laid before the House of Representatives.
Article 117
1. The Deputy Auditor-General shall have such powers and shall perform such functions and duties as normally appertain to his office and also shall, subject to the directions of the Auditor-General, exercise all the powers and perform all the functions and duties vested in the Auditor-General under the provisions of this Constitution or by law.
2. The Deputy Auditor-General shall act for the Auditor-General in case of his absence or his temporary incapacity to perform his duties.
The Auditor General of the Republic is, according to the Constitution, one of the Independent Officers of the Republic. He is the Head of the Audit Office of the Republic, which is an Independent Office not coming under any Ministry.
Pursuant to section 116 of the Constitution, the Auditor General of the Republic, assisted by the Deputy Auditor General, controls, on behalf of the Republic. All disbursements and receipts and audits and inspects all accounts of monies and other assets administered, and of liabilities incurred, by or under the authority of the Republic. For this purpose, the Auditor General has the right of access to all books, records and returns relating to such accounts and the places where such assets are kept.
Apart from the audit of Public Accounts, the Auditor General of the Republic, pursuant to the previsions of the respective laws or by administrative arrangements, is responsible for the audit of the financial statements of Public Enterprises, Special Funds and Local Authorities.
The constitutional and statutory provisions envisage that the Auditor General has to examine the financial and other activities of Government Services. Public Enterprises and Local Authorities in order to satisfy himself that:
- all necessary measures are taken to safeguard the collection of all public monies and all revenues are collected in accordance with the Laws, Regulations and other directions;
- the expenditures are incurred in the most economic and effective way;
- the sums appropriated are spent for the services and purposes for which they have been approved by the Legislature and in accordance with the authority given; and
- all assets are properly maintained, physically inspected and verified.
Pursuant to article 116(4) of the Constitution, the Auditor-General submits annually report on exercise of his functions and duties to the President of the Republic to be laid before the House of Representatives. The main objective of the Auditor General is to include in his Report all the major audit findings and to provide information considered useful both to the Executive and Legislature.
The Auditor General endeavours to have the highest degree of objectivity, independence, and professional standards in his reports. His findings, together with his comments, are initially I to the audited agencies and his Annual Report is basically prepared from these reports. The draft paragraphs of the Annual Report are sent, before finalization, to the Ministers, the Heads of Independent s and the Chairman of Statutory Bodies or other audited agencies for confirmation of the facts.
In the past the primary task of the Auditor General was to carry out regularity audits. The aim of such audits was, mainly, to establish whether there was conformity of administrative action with law, the budget and all relevant accounting, financial and administrative regulations. Efforts are now being made change the scope of audit and to extend it to operational, administrative and technical audits. This change in conformity with current international practice and national demands of both Government and of the Representatives.
According to Law Number N.113(1)/2002 voted by parliament on 12/07/2002 the Auditor General has the authority to request any information and explanations from any person or legal entity who receives a grant, loan or guarantee by the State in order to ensure that the monies have been expended in the prescribed manner (i.e. the AG has the right to audit the end user which he did not have before).
