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CONSTITUTION OF THE CZECH
REPUBLIC
CHAPTER FIVE
THE SUPREME AUDIT OFFICE
Article 97
(1) The Supreme Audit Office is an independent body. It shall audit the management of state property and the implementation of the State Budget.
(2) The President and the Vice-President of the Supreme Audit Office shall be appointed by the President of the Republic on the proposal of the Chamber of Deputies.
(3) The status, the jurisdiction, the organisational structure and other details regarding the Supreme Audit Office shall be defined by law.
of
May the 20th, 1993,
CONCERNING
THE SUPREME AUDIT OFFICE
(as
amended under Acts No: 331/1993, 117/1994, 224/1994, 58/1995, 236/1995,
296/1995,
148/1998, 132/2000, 220/2000, 442/2000, 239/2001, 127/2002, 282/2002 Coll.)
The
Parliament has enacted the following law of the Czech Republic:
Section
1
(1)
This Act governs the status, the jurisdiction, the organizational structure and
the activity of the Supreme Audit Office (hereinafter „the Office“ only).
(2)
This Act also defines the rights and the duties of the President of the Supreme
Audit Office (hereinafter „the President of the Office“ only), the
Vice-President of the Supreme Audit Office (hereinafter „the Vice-President of
the Office“ only), the members of the Supreme Audit Office (hereinafter „members
of the Office“ only), the Board of the Supreme Audit Office (hereinafter
„the Board of the Office“ only), the Senates of the Supreme Audit Office
(hereinafter „Senates of the Office“ only), the Disciplinary Chamber of the
Supreme Audit Office (hereinafter „the Disciplinary Chamber of the Office“
only), and of the staff of the Office.
Section
2
(1)
The Office is an independent auditing and control body of the Czech Republic.
(2)
The Office shall have its headquarters in Prague.
(3)
The Office may use the coat-of-arms of the Czech Republic.
(1)
The Office shall audit:
(a)
the management of state property and financial resources collected under the law
for the benefit of legal persons, with the exception of resources collected by
municipalities or regions under their independent jurisdiction,
(b)
the state final account of the Czech Republic,
(c)
the implementation of the Budget of the Czech Republic,
(d)
the management of financial resources provided to the Czech Republic from abroad
and of financial resources for which the State has assumed guarantees,
(e)
the issue and amortization of government securities,
(f)
the public tenders.
(2)
Unless a special law lays down otherwise, the Office shall carry out control in
the scope specified in paragraph 1 for
(a)
organizational units of the state,
(b)
legal and natural persons.
(3)
The Office shall carry out audit of financial management by the Czech National
Bank (CNB) in the area of expenditures for property acquisition and CNB
operations.1c)
(4)
(The paragraph was abrogated.)
(5)
As a management of the state property is deemed also management of the property
which was transferred to the Fund of National Property under special
regulation1b), management of the property which is managed by Česká
konsolidační agenturaa), and management of the Export and Insurance
Company, PLC, Prague, of the state budget sources for insuring of an export loan
risk, and of the Czech Export Bank, PLC, Prague, of the state budget sources for
a backed financing under special law, as well as
management of these companies of sources, which are guarantied by the
state.
(1)
When carrying out audits, the Office shall examine whether the audited
operations conform to legal regulations, shall review whether they are
substantively and formally correct, and shall judge whether they are effective
and economical.
(2)
The facts being ascertained shall be subject to audit by the Office irrespective
of the type and degree of their secrecy.
(3)
The result of the auditing operations of the Office are audit conclusions*]. An
audit conclusion is a written report summing up and evaluating the facts
ascertained in the course of an audit carried out pursuant to this Act.
Section
5
(1)
The Office shall draw up and submit to the Chamber of Deputies its opinion on
the report on the course of implementation of the State Budget and on the state
final account of the Czech Republic, including the audit reports on which its
opinion is based.
(2)
The Office shall submit to the Chamber of Deputies its opinions referred to in
paragraph 1 within a term, which shall be half the length of the term set for
the consideration of these opinions.
Section
6
When
so requested by the Chamber of Deputies or by the Senate and their bodies, the
Office shall draw up within an agreed term its opinion on proposed legal
regulations concerning budgetary management, accounting, state statistics and
performance of auditing, supervisory and inspection activities.
Section
7
Bodies
of the Office
(1)
The bodies of the Office are the President of the Office, the Vice-President of
the Office, the Board of the Office, the Senates of the Office and the
Disciplinary Chamber of the Office.
(2)
The arrangement of the bodies of the Office shall be governed by the
organizational rules of the Office, the rules of procedure of the Board of the
Office, the rules of procedure of the Senates of the Office and the Disciplinary
Rules.
The
President and the Vice-President of the Office
Section
8
(1)
The President of the Office shall direct the Office and act on its behalf, and
shall preside over the Board of the Office and over the Disciplinary Chamber of
the Office.
(2)
The President of the Office shall submit to the Board of the Office:
(a)
the draft plan of auditing activities and its changes,
(b)
the draft budget and the draft final budgetary statement of the Office,
(c)
all audit reports from which proceeds the opinion on the state final account,
(d)
the draft of the annual report on the work of the Office in the past budgetary
year (hereinafter „the annual report“ only),
(e)
the draft of organizational and labour rules of the Office, including its
amendments,
(f)
the draft rules of procedure of the Board of the Office and of the Senates of
the Office, including their amendments,
(g)
the draft disciplinary rules,
(h)
suggestions from the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate, their bodies and the
Government.
(3)
After consultation with the Board of the Office, the President of the Office
shall approve the organizational and operational rules of the Office.
(4)
The President of the Office may attend meetings of the Chamber of Deputies, of
the Senate and of their organs when they discuss proposals and opinions
submitted to them by the Office. If he asks for the floor, he shall be given it.
(5)
When the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate or their organs ask for the presence at
their deliberations of the President of the Office, he shall have to attend such
deliberations.
(6)
When the President or the Vice-President of the Office do not temporarily
perform their official duties, the office of the President of the Office shall
be always performed by the doyen of members of the Office.
Section
9
(1)
The Vice-President of the Office shall act as the proxy of the President of the
Office in the latter's absence.
(2)
The Vice-President of the Office shall act for the President of the Office in
specific cases on the basis of the latter's authorization.
(3)
The Vice-President of the Office shall exercise some of the powers of the
President of the Office if the organizational rules of the Office so provide.
(1)
Any citizen of the Czech Republic may be appointed President or Vice-President
of the Office, who:
(a)
is fully qualified for legal transactions,
(b)
has full civic integrity, meets the conditions set by special legislation2), and
his or her experience and moral qualities provide the guarantee that he or she
will properly perform his or her official duties,
(c)
is the graduate of a university,
(d)
is older than thirty-five years.
(2)
The term of office of the President and the Vice-President of the Office shall
be nine years.
(3)
The President and the Vice-President of the Office shall submit their oath of
office personally to the President of the Republic.
(4)
The oath of office of the President and of the Vice-President of the Office
reads: „I swear my allegiance to the Czech Republic. I pledge to observe its
Constitution and its laws. I swear on my honour to perform my office
independently and impartially and not to abuse my position.“
(5)
The President and the Vice-President of the Office shall assume their office
upon the submission of their official pledge.
(6)
The office of President of the Office and of the Vice-President of the Office is
incompatible with the office of Deputy, Senator, judge or prosecutor, with any
public administration office, with the office of member of local
self-government, and with any office in political parties and movements.
(7)
The President of the Office and the Vice-President of the Office may not hold
any other
paid
office or perform any paid activity with the exception of scientific,
educational, literary, publication and artistic activities, provided that such
activities do not impair the dignity of the Office or do not undermine
confidence in the independence and impartiality of the Office.
(8)
The President and Vice-President of the Office shall cease performing their
office upon:
(a)
expiration of their term of office,
(b)
their recall by the President of the Republic on the proposal of the Chamber of
Deputies,
(c)
delivery of their letter of resignation to the President of the Republic,
(d)
the finality of a court ruling depriving them of their legal capacity or
curtailing their legal capacity,
(e)
the finality of a judicial verdict convicting them of a crime.
(9)
The Chamber of Deputies may propose to the President of the Republic to recall
the President or the Vice-President of the Office only:
(a)
when they have not performed their official duties for more than six months,
(b)
on the basis of a final decision of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Office,
proposing their recall.
Members
of the Office
Section
11
(1)
Members of the Office shall conduct audits, direct auditing activities and draw
up audit conclusions according to the plan of auditing activities, and shall
take part in the work of the Senates of the Office and of the Board of the
Office.
(2)
The member of the Office, who draws up an audit conclusion shall rule on any
objection of bias raised by the audited person against the respective auditor.
Section
12
(1)
The Chamber of Deputies shall elect fifteen members of the Office nominated by
the President of the Office.
(2)
If a post of member of the Office is vacated, the President of the Office shall
nominate within 40 days of the day the post became vacant a candidate for
election by the Chamber of Deputies as a new member of the Office.
(3)
Any citizen of the Czech Republic may be elected member of the Office, who:
(a)
is fully qualified for legal transactions,
(b)
has civic integrity, meets the conditions set by special legislation2) and his
experience and moral qualities provide the guarantee that he will properly
fulfill his official duties,
(c)
is a university graduate,
(d)
is older than thirty years.
(4)
Every member of the Office shall submit to the Chairman of the Chamber of
Deputies an official oath.
(5)
The oath of office of members of the Office reads: „I swear my allegiance to
the Czech Republic. I pledge to observe its Constitution and its laws. I swear
on my honour to perform my office independently and impartially and not to abuse
my position.“
(6)
Members of the Office shall assume their office upon submission of their
official oath.
(7)
The office of member of the Office is incompatible with the office of Deputy or
Senator, judge, prosecutor, any public administration office, the office of
member of local self-administration bodies, and with any office in political
parties and movements.
(8)
A member of the Office may not hold any other paid office or perform any paid
activity with the exception of scientific, educational, literary, publication
and artistic activities, provided that such activities do not impair the dignity
of the Office or do not undermine confidence in the independence and
impartiality of the Office.
(9)
The office of member of the Office shall be terminated:
(a)
upon delivery of his letter of resignation to the Chamber of Deputies,
(b)
on attainment of the age of 65 years,
(c)
by recall by the Chamber of Deputies on the basis of a final decision of the
Disciplinary Chamber of the Office, proposing the recall,
(d)
when a court ruling depriving the member of his legal capacity or curtailing
such capacity becomes final,
(e)
when a judicial verdict convicting the member of a willful crime becomes final.
Section
13
Board
of the Office
(1)
The Board of the Office consists of the President of the Office, the
Vice-President of the Office, and members of the Office.
(2)
The Board of the Office shall adopt its decisions by vote; a decision shall be
adopted by majority of the present members of the Board. In the case of split
vote, the vote cast by the presiding member shall be decisive. The Board of the
Office shall have a quorum when more than half of its members are present.
Deliberations of the Board of the Office shall be governed by rules of
procedure, which shall provide, in particular, for the form of decision-making,
the voting procedure, and the manner of publishing the opposite view.
(3)
The Board of the Office shall approve:
(a)
the plan of auditing activities,
(b)
the draft budget of the Office, submitted to the Chamber of Deputies and the
final budgetary statement of the Office,
(c)
all audit conclusions on which the opinion on the state final account is based,
(d)
the annual report,
(e)
the audit conclusions it set for itself when approving the plan of auditing
activities or assigned to it by the President of the Office,
(f)
the rules of procedure of the Board of the Office and of the Senates of the
Office,
(g)
the Disciplinary Rules.
(4)
The Board of the Office shall decide on:
(a)
appeals contesting rulings on objections filed against audit protocols,
(b)
objections claiming bias, provided that the objection was filed by the audited
person against a member of the Office; such member of the Office shall be
excluded from vote on the objection of bias.
(5)
The Board of the Office shall consider the drafts of the organizational and
labour rules of the Office, submitted by the President of the Office, and shall
recommend to him their approval.
Section
14
Senates
of the Office
(1)
The Senates of the Office are collective bodies of the Office, made up of three
or more members of the Office. They shall decide by vote of all their members; a
decision shall be adopted when it is approved by majority of the members of the
respective Senate. Deliberations of the Senates of the Office shall be governed
by their rules of procedure, which shall include, in particular, the form of
decision-making, the voting procedure, and the manner of publishing the opposite
view.
(2)
Senates of the Office shall be established by the Board of the Office when it
approves the plan of auditing activities. A Senate of the Office shall be
chaired by a member of the Office appointed by the Board of the Office.
(3)
Senates of the Office shall approve the audit reports for which they were
established.
(4)
Senates of the Office shall rule on appeals filed against rulings on objections
regarding audit protocols, which serve as the basis for the audit reports within
the competence of the respective Senate.
Section
15
Auditors
Audits
shall be carried out by auditors. Save where this Act provides differently,
auditors shall be covered by the provisions of the Labour Code.
Section
16
International
cooperation
(1)
The Office shall cooperate with the supreme auditing and control bodies abroad
and may conclude with them agreements on auditing activities. The Office may
send members of the Office and auditors to international or supranational
auditing and control bodies.
(2)
The Office may be a member of international organizations associating auditing
and
control
institutions.
Section
17
Plan
of auditing activities
(1)
The plan of auditing activities shall define in terms of their substance and
schedule the auditing operations to be realized in the next budgetary year.
(2)
When drawing up the plan of auditing activities, its authors shall proceed from
suggestions presented by the President of the Office, the Vice-President of the
Office, and members of the Office. Suggestions shall ensue from the auditing
activities of the Office, from the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate and their
bodies, and from the Government.
(3)
The plan of auditing activities shall include in the case of every specific
audit operation in particular:
(a)
the object and goals of the audit and the designation of the audited body,
organizational unit of the state,. legal or natural person (hereinafter „the
audited person“ only),
(b)
the schedule of the audit,
(c)
the name of the member of the Office, who will draw up the audit conclusion, or
of the body of the Office approving the audit report,
(d)
the membership of the Senate of the Office, if established.
(4)
The approved plan of auditing activities shall be submitted by the President of
the Office for information to the Chamber of Deputies, to the Senate and to the
Government, and he shall publish it in the Bulletin of the Supreme Audit Office
(hereinafter „the Office Bulletin“) only.
(5)
Any change to be effected in the plan of auditing activities shall have to be
approved by the Board of the Office. The approved change shall be submitted for
information and shall be published in the Office Bulletin pursuant to paragraph
4.
Section
18
Annual
report
(1)
The annual report shall be submitted by the President of the Office for approval
to the Board of the Office.
(2)
The annual report shall contain in particular:
(a)
an evaluation of the plan of auditing activities,
(b)
a financial assessment of the gain derived from auditing activities,
(c)
an evaluation of other activities.
(3)
The annual report shall be submitted by the President of the Office for
information to the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate and the Government within two
months of the end of the budgetary year and he shall publish it in the Office
Bulletin.
Rules
of Audit Procedure
Section
19
(1)
The Rules of Audit Procedure shall govern the procedure to be followed in
performing an audit and the relationship between the Office, the bodies of the
Office, the members of the Office and the auditors charged with the conduct of a
specific audit on the one hand and the audited persons on the other hand.
(2)
Auditing activities shall be carried out by members of the Office and auditors
(hereinafter „auditors in charge“ only) on the basis of a written warrant
issued by the President of the Office or by a member of the Office authorized by
him to do so.
(3)
The warrant shall state the object and the substance of the audit, the names,
surnames and titles of the auditors and their position in the Office, the name
and surname of the head of the team of auditors in charge, and the authority or
persons to whom an appeal may be addressed, contesting the ruling on objections
filed against the audit protocol.
Section
20
(1)
Those auditors in charge in whose case there may be warranted doubt about their
bias because of their relationship to the audited persons or to the object of
the audit may not perform the respective audit.
(2)
An auditor in charge who has learned of facts indicating his bias shall report
this immediately to the competent member of the Office or, when he himself is a
member of the Office, to the President of the Office.
(3)
Audited persons shall report to the Office facts indicating the bias of an
auditor in charge as soon as they have learned of such facts.
(4)
An objection claiming bias of an auditor in charge shall be ruled on without
undue delay.
(5)
Until the ruling on the objection of bias is made, the affected auditor in
charge shall perform only acts, which cannot be deferred.
(6)
There shall be no appeal against a ruling on an objection of bias.
When
conducting an audit, the auditor in charge may:
(a)
enter the buildings, establishments and operational facilities, the land and
other premises of the audited persons provided that these are related to the
object of the audit; the inviolability of domicile is guaranteed3),
(b)
demand from the audited persons to submit within set terms original documents
and other papers, data recorded on computer memory media, their excerpts and
resource program codes, and samples of products or other goods (hereinafter
„documents“ only),
(c)
become acquainted with confidential facts provided that they submit a
certificate for the relevant level of confidentiality of such facts, issued
pursuant to the special law4).
(d)
demand from the audited persons true and full, oral and written information on
the facts being ascertained and on facts relating thereto,
(e)
retain documents in warranted cases; they shall certify to the audited person in
writing the surrender of the retained documents and leave to the person in
question copies of such documents,
(f)
demand that the audited persons present within a set term a written report on
the elimination of the ascertained defects,
(g)
use the telecommunication equipment of the audited persons in cases where the
use of such equipment is essential for the execution of the audit.
Section
22
(1)
The auditors in charge shall ascertain at the audit the true state of affairs
and shall have to prove it by documents.
(2)
The auditors in charge shall in addition:
(a)
notify the audited person when the audit begins and present to them their
warrant to conduct the audit,
(b)
respect the rights and the legally protected interests of the audited persons,
(c)
return without delay to the audited persons retained documents when the grounds
of their retention have passed,
(d)
duly safeguard retained documents against their loss, destruction, damage or
misuse,
(e)
draw up an audit protocol**) on the results of the audit,
(f)
keep confidential all facts of which they have learned in the course of the
audit and not exploit their knowledge of such facts.
Section
23
An
auditor in charge may be relieved of his duty of professional confidence by the
person in whose interest he has such duty or, on the ground of an important
state interest, by the President of the Office. This provision shall not
prejudice the duty to report certain facts to the authorities competent under
special regulations5).
Section
24
(1)
Audited persons shall provide to the auditors in charge cooperation conforming
to the latter's rights specified in Section 21 of this Act. Natural persons
shall not be bound by the duty ensuing from Section 21, subpar. (d), if by
fulfilling it they would expose themselves or persons close to them to the
danger of criminal prosecution6).
(2)
Audited persons shall to the essential extent corresponding to the character of
their activity and their technical equipment provide the material and technical
facilities for securing the conduct of the audit.
Section
25
(1)
An audit protocol shall be drawn up on the conducted audit, which shall include
in particular a description of the ascertained facts and list the defects found,
and shall specify the legal regulations which have been violated.
(2)
The audit protocol shall contain the designation of the Office and the names of
the auditors taking part in the audit, the designation of the audited person,
the place and the date of the audit, the object of the audit, the actual
situation, and identification of the documents and other material on which the
record is based. The audit protocol shall be signed by the auditors in charge
who took part in the audit.
(3)
The head of the team of auditors in charge shall be personally responsible for
the content of the protocol.
Section
26
(1)
It shall be the duty of the auditors in charge to inform the audited persons of
the content of the audit protocol and to furnish them with its identical copy.
(2)
The audited persons shall confirm that they were informed of the content of the
audit protocol and that they have received its copy by signing the protocol.
(3)
If an audited person refuses to be informed of the content of the audit protocol
or to confirm that it has been so informed, these facts shall be noted down in
the audit protocol.
Section
27
(1)
The audited person may file objections
against
the audit protocol to the head of the team of auditors in charge within the term
of five days of the day it was informed of its content, unless the auditor in
charge set a longer term. The objections shall have to be filed in written form
and shall have to include their grounds.
(2)
The objections shall be ruled on by the
head
of the team of auditors in charge.
(3)
If the objections have not been admitted, the audited person may file within
fifteen days of the day when the ruling on the objections was delivered an
appeal addressed to:
(a)
the competent member of the Office in cases where the audit protocol served as a
basis for an audit conclusion drawn up by the member of the Office,
(b)
the competent Senate of the Office in cases where the audit protocol served as a
basis for an audit conclusion considered by such senate of the Office,
(c)
the Board of the Office in cases where the audit protocol served as a basis for
an audit conclusion considered by the Board of the Office.
(4)
If there exist grounds warranting it, the competent body of the Office or member
of the Office shall change or dismiss the ruling on the objections, or else
shall deny the appeal and confirm the original ruling.
(5)
When the need arises in the appellate proceedings contesting a ruling on
objections to supplement the investigation of the case, the respective body of
the Office or member of the Office shall dismiss the original ruling and shall
provide for supplementary investigation of the case.
(6)
There shall be no further appeal against the ruling of the competent body of the
Office or member of the Office.
(1)
A natural person who has willfully caused an audited person not meeting its duty
pursuant to Section 24 of this Act may be fined by the Office up to the amount
of 50 000 CZK.
(2)
A fine may be levied repeatedly if the duty is not met even within a term newly
set by the auditors.
(3)
A fine may be levied within one month of the day when the duty is not fulfilled.
(4)
Fines shall constitute a receipt of the State Budget of the Czech Republic.
(5)
The payment of fines shall be enforced by the Office.
Section
29
(1)
The costs incurred by the Office in connection with the conduct of audits shall
be borne by the Office.
(2)
Costs incurred by audited person in connection with the conduct of audits shall
be borne by such persons with the exception of costs incurred in connection with
the assertion of the right specified in Section 21 of this Act under (g). These
costs shall be borne by the Office. The liability for any damage caused to
audited persons in connection with the conduct of audits shall be borne by the
State; it may not relieve itself of this liability.
(3)
Any claim to reimbursement of costs incurred pursuant to the provisions of
paragraph 2 shall have to be asserted with the Office not later than within six
months of the day such costs were incurred, or else the claim shall be
relinquished.
(1)
All approved audit conclusions shall be published by the President of the Office
in the Office Bulletin and he shall send them without delay to the Chamber of
Deputies, the Senate, the Government and, upon request, to the ministries. The
President of the Office shall send the approved audit conclusions also to the
Czech National Bank if the Bank is the audited person.
(2)
Upon request, the Office shall supply the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate and
the Government with the audit protocols and other background material for the
approved audit conclusions. The persons who have acquainted themselves with such
documents shall be subject mutatis mutandis to the provisions of Section 22,
par. 2, subpar. (f), and Section 23 of this Act.
(3)
The procedure of handling audit conclusions pursuant to the provisions of
paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to those audit conclusions, which contain
facts covered by a special Act 4). In cases where audit protocols used for
drawing up audit conclusions have been passed to authorities engaged in criminal
proceedings, such records may be published only with the consent of the
competent authority.
(4)
The method of handling the audit conclusions referred to in paragraph 3 shall be
set by the Board of the Office.
Section
31
Save
for the provisions of Section 28 of this Act, proceedings under these Audit
Rules shall not be subject to the Code of Administrative Procedure7).
Section
32
Financing
of the Office
(1)
The operational costs of the Office shall be covered from the State Budget of
the Czech Republic.
(2)
The Office shall have its separate chapter in the State Budget of the Czech
Republic, which chapter shall be a component part of the Act on the State Budget
of the Czech Republic.
(3)
The draft budget shall be submitted by the President of the Office for approval
to the Board of the Office.
(4)
The draft of the budgetary chapter of the Office, approved by the Board of the
Office, shall be submitted by the President of the Office to the Chamber of
Deputies and at the same time to the Ministry of Finance.
Section
33
Management
of the budgetary chapter of the Office
(1)
Save where this Act provides differently, management of the budgetary chapter of
the Office shall be the same as in the case of state administration authorities.
(2)
The Chamber of Deputies or the body established or authorized thereby for this
purpose shall audit management by the Office of state property, including the
funds of the state budget within the chapter of the Office.
(3)
The final account of the budgetary chapter of the Office shall be submitted by
the President of the Office to the Chamber of Deputies together with a report on
the verification of the annual statement of accounts by an auditor.
(4)
The final account of the budgetary chapter of the Office shall be submitted by
the President of the Office to the Ministry of Finance for inclusion in the
draft of the state final account of the State Budget, together with the opinion
of the Chamber of Deputies or its body, if such opinion was adopted.
Disciplinary
responsibility
Section
34
The
President, the Vice-President and the members of the Office shall be accountable
for disciplinary offences.
Section
35
(1)
A disciplinary offence is a culpable violation of the duties of the President,
the Vice-President and members of the Office, ensuing from this Act, or their
conduct whereby they impair the dignity or undermine confidence in the
independence and impartiality of their own person or of the Office.
(2)
The conduct referred to in paragraph 1 constitutes a serious disciplinary
offence when in view of the character of the breach of duty, the behaviour, the
degree of culpability, recurrence or other aggravating circumstance the damaging
effect of such conduct is increased.
Section
36
The
accountability of the President, the Vice-President and the members of the
Office for disciplinary offences shall cease upon the expiration of one year
from their commission.
Disciplinary
Chamber of the Office
Section
37
Disciplinary
responsibility shall be established and disciplinary penalties shall be imposed
by the Disciplinary Chamber of the Office.
Section
38
(1)
The Disciplinary Chamber of the Office shall consist of its chairman and two
members.
(2)
The chairman of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Office shall be the President of
the Office. The two other members and their substitutes shall be appointed by
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from the ranks of the Justices of that
Court.
(3)
When a motion to institute disciplinary proceedings is directed against the
President of the Office, the Disciplinary Chamber shall be chaired by the
Vice-President of the Office.
Disciplinary
proceedings
Section
39
(1)
Disciplinary proceedings shall be initiated by the Disciplinary Chamber of the
Office on the motion of the President, the Vice-President or a member of the
Office, of a Deputy or bodies of the Chamber of Deputies, or on its own
initiative.
(2)
Proceedings in the Disciplinary Chamber of the Office shall be governed by the
Disciplinary Rules.
Section
40
(1)
Proceedings in the Disciplinary Chamber of the Office shall be closed to the
public.
(2)
Minutes shall be drawn up of the proceedings in the Disciplinary Chamber of the
Office.
Section
41
The
chairman of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Office shall notify the person who
is being subjected to disciplinary proceedings that disciplinary proceedings
have been initiated and shall advise such person of his rights.
Section
42
(1)
The Disciplinary Chamber of the Office shall discontinue the disciplinary
proceedings when:
(a)
the person against whom the proceedings are conducted resigns from his office,
(b)
the responsibility for the respective disciplinary offence has ceased,
(c)
for the same act transgression proceedings or criminal prosecution have already
been initiated, or a final decision has been made in the same case.
(2)
The Disciplinary Chamber of the Office shall suspend disciplinary proceedings
when it feels that the acts of which the President of the Office, the
Vice-President of the Office or a member of the Office are being charged have
the attributes of a crime, and shall refer the case to the competent body active
in criminal proceedings.
(3)
When the Disciplinary Chamber of the Office reaches the conclusion that the
President of the Office, the Vice-President of the Office or a member of the
Office did commit a disciplinary offence, it shall rule on the disciplinary
penalty to be imposed.
(4)
When the Disciplinary Chamber of the Office reaches the conclusion that the
President of the Office, the Vice-President of the Office or a member of the
Office did not commit a disciplinary offence, or that there is no evidence
proving that he did so, it shall acquit him.
Section
43
(1)
Rulings of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Office shall be executed in written
form and shall be delivered to the member of the Office against whom the
disciplinary proceedings were conducted.
(2)
An appeal may be filed with the Supreme Court against rulings of the
Disciplinary Chamber of the Office within fifteen days of their delivery. The
appeal shall have dilatory effect.
Section
44
Disciplinary
penalties
(1)
Either of the following disciplinary penalties may be imposed for a disciplinary
offence:
(a)
reprimand,
(b)
reduction of pay of as much as 15 per cent for a period of not more than three
months.
(2)
Either of the following disciplinary penalties may be imposed for a serious
disciplinary offence or for a repeated disciplinary offence:
(a)
reduction of pay of 15 per cent for a period of not more than six months,
(b)
proposal for recall of the respective member of the Office,
(c)
proposal for recall of the President of the Office or the Vice-President of the
Office.
Section
45
The
Office Bulletin
(1)
The Office shall publish the Office Bulletin on a regular quarterly basis.
(2)
The Office Bulletin shall contain in particular:
(a)
the rules of procedure of the Board of the Office and of the Senates of the
Office,
(b)
the Disciplinary Rules,
(c)
the plan of audit activities,
(d)
the annual report,
(e)
all audit conclusions with the exception of those which include facts to which
applies special legislation.
Pay,
benefits and compensations
Section
46
The
salaries and the benefits of the President of the Office and of the
Vice-President of the Office shall be governed by special law8).
Section
47
(1)
to (10) (The paragraphs were abrogated)
(11)
Members of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Office shall be entitled to a
lump-sum compensation for the performance of their office, amounting to 1000 CZK
a month.
Section
48
Save
where this Act provides differently, the President of the Office, the
Vice-President of the Office and members of the Office shall be subject to the
provisions of the Labour Code.
Section
49
(1)
The Board of the Office shall be convened by the President of the Office within
fifteen days after the election by the Chamber of Deputies of not less than ten
members of the Office.
(2)
At the first session of the Board of the Office shall submit the drafts of the
rules of procedure of the Board of the Office and of the Senates of the Office.
(3)
The President of the Office shall submit the draft of the Disciplinary Rules to
the Board of the Office not later than within two months after the first session
of the Board of the Office.
Section
50
(1)
The Ministry of State Control and the Supreme Control Office of the Czech
Republic are hereby abolished.
(2)
The rights and obligations ensuing from labour-law relations, and from property
and other relations shall pass from the Ministry of State Control of the Czech
Republic and from the Supreme Control Office of the Czech Republic to the
Office.
(3)
Protocols, audit findings and other background documents from audits initiated
prior to the day this Act enters into effect shall be used by the Office in its
work, provided they are in keeping with the provisions of this Act.
Section
51
The
following laws and legal provisions are hereby repealed:
1.
Constitutional Act of the Czech National Council No. 481/1991, constituting the
Audit Office of the Czech Republic,
2.
Act of the Czech National Council No. 61/1992, on the Supreme Audit Office of
the Czech Republic,
3.
Section 2, subpar. (a), and Sections 5, 6 and 7 of the Act of the Czech National
Council No. 552/1991, on state control,
4.
Section 1, point 15, and Section 18 of the Act of the Czech National Council No.
2/1969, on the constitution of ministries and other central agencies of state
administration of the Czech Republic, as subsequently amended,
5.
Section 6, Article IV of the Act of the Czech National Council No. 10/1993, on
the State Budget of the Czech Republic for 1993, and on the amendment of some
Acts of the Czech National Council and of some other regulations.
Section
52
This
Act shall enter into effect on the 1st of July, 1993.
1b)
Section 11 (2) of the Act No. 92/1991 Coll., on
terms of the transfer of state property to another
bodies, as amended under Act No. 210/1993 Coll. Section 5 of the Act No.
171/1991 Coll., on powers of the authorities of the Czech republic in the
matters concerning the transfer of state property to another bodies and on the
Fund of National Property, as amended by later regulations.
1c)
Section 2 of the Act No. 6/1993 Coll., on the Czech National Bank, as amended
under Act No. 442/2000 Coll.
a)
Czech Consolidation Agency is the successor to Konsolidační banka
(Consolidation Bank) - state financial institution, which main priority was to
manage and implement problematic assets that have been transferred to it from
commercial banks and other institutions as a part of the current economic
transformation process. Its activities are fully guaranteed by the government.
*]
A very special term distinguishing this kind of report from the others.
2)
the Act No. 451/1991 Coll., which sets up some additional requirements to
perform some functions at the state authorities and organizations
3)
Section 12 paragraphs 1 and 3 of the Charter Of Fundamental Rights And Basic
Freedoms, No. 92/1993 Coll.
4)
The Act No. 148/1998 Coll., on protection of secret information…
**)
Strictly prescribed form of a record elaborated on auditing results at the
single audited person.
5)
E. g. Section 8 of the Act No. 141/1961 Coll., Criminal Procedures Code, as
amended by later regulations.
6)
Section 116 of the Civil Code.
7)
The Act No. 71/1967 Coll., the Administrative Procedures Code.
8)
The Act No. 236/1995 Coll., on salaries and benefits of the representatives of
the state power.
