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MEXICO

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Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury

   

Table of Attributes

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MEXICO

POLITICAL CONSTITUTION

Article 73 part XXIV.- The Congress is empowered to make the Organic Law on the Office of the Chief Accountant.

Article 74.- The House of Deputies shall be vested with the exclusive power to:

part II. Appoint a committee of its own members to keep a check on the exact performance of the functions of the Office of the Chief Accountant.

part III. Appoint the chiefs and other employees for this office;

part IV. (paragraphs 4 and 5) The purpose of reviewing the Public Account shall be to take cognisance of the results of financial administration, to ascertain whether it has met the criteria laid down in the budget and whether it has met the objectives contained in the programmes.

If, from the examination carried out by the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury, discrepancies are revealed between the amounts spent and the respective head given in the budget, or there is a lack of clarity and justification in respect of the expenditures, responsibility shall be fixed in accordance with the Law.

  

  

  

  

  

  

ORGANIC LAW OF THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ACCOUNTANT OF THE TREASURY

CHAPTER ONE
Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury

Article 1.- The Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury if the technical body of the House of Deputies that is in charge of reviewing the Public Account of the Federal Government and the Public Account of the Federal District.

In the performance of its duties, it shall come under the control of the Vigilance Committee appointed by the House of Deputies.

Article 2.- The executive authority of the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury shall be vested in the Chief Accountant who shall be appointed by the House of Deputies from a short-list proposed by the Vigilance Committee. In the performance of his duties he shall be assisted by one Deputy Chief Accountant, the Directors, Deputy Directors, Heads of Department, Auditors, Advisers, Office Chiefs, Section Heads, and sound and trustworthy employees in the numbers required and in the positions that are sanctioned every year by the Expenditure Budget of the House of Deputies.

Article 3.- The Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury shall review the Public Account of the Federal Government as well as that of the Department of the Federal District by undertaking audits and, in this regard, shall have the following powers:

I. To ascertain whether that the entities mentioned in Article 2 of the Law of Budget, Accounting and Public Expenditure coming within the purview of the Public Account:

a) Carried out their operations in keeping with the letter and spirit of the Laws of Receipts and Budgets of Expenditure of the Federation and the Department of the Federal District, and whether they complied with the respective provisions of the General Laws of Public Debt, Budget, Accounting and Federal Public Expenditure, the Organic Law of Federal Public Administration and other orders applying in this matter;

b) worked in strict and correct adherence to their budgets and in keeping with the approved programmes and sub-programmes;

c) balanced and implemented the investment programmes as per the approved terms and amounts and in accordance with their heads, and

d) utilised the resources derived from funding with the regularity and in the manner laid down by the law.

II. To prepare and submit:

a) The preliminary report to the Budget and Accounts Committee of the House of Deputies, through the Vigilance Committee, within the first ten days of the month of November following the presentation of the Public Account of the Federal Government and the Department of the Federal District. This report shall enunciatively contain general comments on:

1. whether the Public Account is presented in conformity with the accounting principles applicable to the governmental sector;

2. results of financial administration;

3. whether the entities complied with the criteria established in the Laws of Receipts and in other fiscal laws, special laws as well as rules and regulations applicable in this respect, as also the Budgets of Expenditure for the Federation and the Department of the Federal District;

4. the attainment of the objectives and goals of the main programmes and sub-programmes that were approved;

5. the analysis of subsidies, transfers, aid for operation and investment, additional allocation and other allocations or similar items, and

6. the analysis of deviations from the budget;

b) The report on the results of the review of the Public Account pertaining to the Federal Government and the government of the Department of the Federal District and submit the said report to the House of Deputies. This report shall be submitted through the Vigilance Committee in the first ten days of the month of September in the year following presentation of the said Public Account. This report shall also draw attention to any irregularities it may have observed while engaged in the performance of the activities mentioned in this Article.

III. To audit the subsidies granted by the Federal Government to the States, to the Department of the Federal District, to the organisms of Semi-State Public Administration, to Municipalities, to private or public institutions, regardless of the purpose for which such subsidies were given, as well as to ascertain whether they were spent for the authorised purpose.

In the case of Municipalities, the auditing of subsidies shall be conducted through the Government of the concerned Federate Entity.

IV. To authorise visits, inspections, carry out audits, request information, examine books and documents to see if the collection of revenue was carried out in accordance with the laws applicable in this respect, and with due efficiency.

V. To authorise visits, inspections, carry out audits, request information, examine books and documents, inspect works to see if the investment and expenditure that the entities were authorised to make were effectively applied to the attainment of the goals and objectives of the approved programmes and sub-programmes and, in general, conduct the necessary investigation for the proper performance of its duties.

VI. To ask the external auditors of the entities for copies of the reports or rulings resulting from the audit they have carried out, and any clarifications that they may deem relevant.

VII. Pursuant to this Law, to co-ordinate with the Programmes and Budget Secretariat in order to bring uniformity into the rules, procedures, methods, accounting systems and the rules and regulations applicable to government auditing, and the filing of accounts books and order and vouchers with regard to public receipts and expenditure.

VIII. To establish the rules, procedures, methods and internal systems for the review of the Public Account of the Federal Government and the Department of the Federal District.

IX. To assist the competent authorities in fixing responsibilities, and

X. All other powers that devolve on it pursuant to this Law, its Rules and Regulations and the provisions passed from time to time by the House of Deputies.

Article 4.- The Chief Accountant or Deputy Chief Accountant of the Treasury must meet the following requirements:

I. Be a Mexican national, of more than 30 years of age and in full exercise of his rights.

II. Have a legally issued and registered degree of Public Accountant, or have a Masters in Law, Economics or Public Administration, and be a member of the relevant professional society.

The Public Accountant must have proven experience and knowledge of accounting and government audit; likewise, those having a masters in Law, Economics or Public Administration, must have rendered their services for three years prior to their appointment in positions dealing with the public treasury.

III. Be a person of proven integrity in the exercise of his profession and in the performance of the public duties entrusted to him.

IV. He must not hold any elected office during his tenure.

V. He must not offer his professional services to any entity coming under the Federal Public Administration, States, or Municipalities, during his tenure, the only exception being teaching positions.

VI. He must not be in the employ of bodies, companies, private or individually managed institutions, during his tenure of office, and

VII. He must not be a minister of any religious cult.

Article 5.- The Chief Accountant of the Treasury cannot be removed from his post during his tenure of eight years. The House of Deputies, acting on a duly substantiated proposal from the Vigilance Committee, can extend his appointment for another eight years.

The Chief Accountant shall be substituted by the Deputy Chief Accountant during the temporary absence of the former, as long as the period does not exceed three months. If the absence is longer, the Vigilance Committee shall inform the House of Deputies so that it may solve the matter according to the law. When the House of Deputies is in recess, the Deputy Chief Accountant shall perform the duties until the said House appoints a Chief Accountant in its next ordinary session.

Article 6.- The Chief Accountant can be removed according to the law, even though the term of eight years referred to in Article 5 of this Law is not yet over, when in the performance of his duties there has been a lack of integrity, gross inefficiency, physical or mental disability, or when he has committed some international crime. In any of these cases, the Vigilance Committee shall propose his removal based on substantiated reasons to the House of Deputies, which in turn shall take a decision after taking cognisance of what his defence has cited to the said Committee.

During the recess of the House of Deputies, the Vigilance Committee shall be empowered to suspend him in the performance of his duties, and subsequently the House can give a ruling in its next ordinary session.

Article 7.- The Chief Accountant of the Treasury shall have the following powers:

I. To represent the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury before all types of authorities, entities and natural and artificial persons.

II. To prepare the annual budget of the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury and lay it before the House of Deputies through the Vigilance Committee.

III. To propose the monthly budget of the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury to the Vigilance Committee for its approval.

IV. To administer and implement the monthly budget and furnish substantiated accounts of its application, within the first four days of the next month, to the Vigilance Committee.

V. To report to the Vigilance Committee, within thirty days following the financial year ending, about the implementation of the annual budget.

VI. To draw up and execute work plans for the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury.

VII. To prepare the documents containing observations, if any.

VIII. To decide the technical rules and the procedures to be applied to visits, inspections and audits that have been sanctioned. These shall be updated in accordance with scientific and technical progress taking place in this respect.

IX. To set up necessary commissions and select trained staff so as to be able to conduct the visits, inspections and audits referred to in Article 3 of this Law.

X. To assist the concerned authorities:

a) In fixing responsibilities;

b) In recovering the amounts not yet received by the Federal Public Treasury or the Treasury of the Department of the Federal District;

c) In the payment of surcharges, damages and losses caused to the Federal Public Treasury or to the Department of the Federal District;

d) In the implementation of the acts, agreements or contracts that affect the programmes, sub-programmes and budget heads.

XI. To propose, in accordance with the law, the appointment and removal of staff members holding positions of trust in the Office of the Chief Accountant to the Vigilance Committee so that such proposals can be submitted to the House of Deputies for their approval.

XII. In general, he shall be vested with all other powers pursuant to this Law, its Rules and Regulations and the general provisions and agreements passed by the House of Deputies.

Article 8.- The Internal Rules of the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury shall determine the powers and duties corresponding to the Deputy Chief Accountant, the directors and the assistant directors, the Heads of Departments, the auditors, advisors and other personnel.

Article 9.- The staff working in the Office of the Chief Account shall consist of employees of trust and ordinary employees.

I. The staff members of trust are: the Chief Accountant and the Deputy Chief Accountant of the Treasury, the Directors and Assistant Directors, the Heads of Departments, Auditors, Advisers and Private Secretaries of the mentioned officers, and all others assigned to this category by the Civil Services Act.

II. Ordinary employees are those who do work in jobs not included in the above sub-section, and those mentioned in the Expenditure Budget of the House of Deputies.

  

  

CHAPTER TWO
Vigilance Committee of the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury

Article 10.- The Vigilance Committee shall be conferred the following powers:

I. To receive the Public Account of the Federal Government and the Public Account of the Department of the Federal District from the Standing Committee of the Congress of the Union.

II. To take the Public Account from the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury, in order to examine it.

III. To order the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury, when it deems necessary for the purposes of this Law, to undertake visits, inspections and audits of the entities coming under the purview of the Public Account.

IV. To present to the Budgets and Accounts Committee of the House of Deputies, within the first ten days of the month of November following the laying of the Public Account, the preliminary report submitted to it by the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury.

V. To present to the House of Deputies, within the first ten days of the month of September of each year, the report submitted to it by the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury on the results of the examination of the Public Account presented in the previous year.

VI. To submit the annual budget of the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury to the House of Deputies for its consideration. The Committee shall take care to see that the total amount of the budget being proposed is enough for the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury to perform the tasks assigned to it by this Law.

VII. To examine and adopt, if considered appropriate, the exercise of the monthly budget and review the annual and monthly accounts of the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury.

VIII. To determine the organisational set-up and issue the Internal Rules governing the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury.

IX. Pursuant to this Law, to propose to the House of Deputies:

a) The short-list of three names for the appointment of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury;

b) The appointment of staff members of trust;

c) The removal of the Chief Accountant or the staff members of trust.

X. To sanction the appointment and removal of the ordinary employees in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Law for Civil Servants, Regulations given in Section "B" of Article 123 of the Constitution and the Regulations of the corresponding rank.

XI. To be the channel of communication between the House of Deputies and the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury.

XII. To interpret this Law and its Rules for administrative purposes, and to clarify and resolve any doubts on the application of the Internal Rules, and

XIII. To prescribe those measures deemed necessary for the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury to perform its duties as assigned in the Political Constitution of the United States of Mexico, this Law, its Rules or any other provisions or agreements passed by the House of Deputies.

  

  

CHAPTER THREE
Government Accounting and Audit and the Accounts Filing

Article 11.- With a view to bringing uniformity in the criteria for government accounting and accounts filing, the Programmes and Budget Secretariat shall keep the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury informed about the rules, procedures, methods and systems that it introduces and institutes, in accordance with the powers conferred on it by the Organic Laws of Federal Public Administration and Budget, Accounting and Federal Public Expenditure, while bearing in mind the recommendations proposed in this regard by the Chief Accountant of the Treasury.

The Programmes and Budget Secretariat shall inform the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury in advance about the minimum programmes of auditing that it decides for the entities.

Article 12.- For purposes of reviewing the Public Account of the Federal Government and the Department of the Federal District, the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury shall establish the rules, procedures, methods and systems of auditing and shall assist in the preparation of the corresponding handbooks for internal use.

Article 13.- When examining the Public Account of the Federal Government and the Department of the Federal District, the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury shall ascertain whether the rules, procedures, methods and systems referred to in Article 11 of this Law have been applied, and shall report to the Programmes and Budget Secretariat on any irregularities it might discover, so that it may take legal corrective measures.

  

  

CHAPTER FOUR
The Public Account of the Federal Government and the Department of the Federal District

Article 14.- For purposes of this Law, the Public Account of the Federal Government and the Public Account of the Federal District consist of the accounts and financial statements and any other information recording the transactions arising from the application of the Laws of Receipts and the implementation of the Budgets of Expenditure of the Federation and the Department of the Federal District, the impact of the these transactions and other accounts on the total assets and liabilities of the Federal Public Treasury and the Treasury of the Department of the Federal District, on their net assets, including the source and application of the resources, as well as the outcome of the transactions conducted by the Federal Government and the Department of the Federal District and the detailed statements of the Federal Public Debt.

Likewise the Public Account shall also include the budgetary and financial statements, including the source and application of resources and the results derived in the financial year from the transactions made by entities belonging to the Public Sector Administration which are subject to budgetary controls, in accordance with the Laws of Budget, Accounting and Federal Public Expenditure and General Public Debt.

Article 15.- The Public Account of the Federal Government and of the Department of the Federal District that the President of the Republic lays in the House of Deputies, through the Standing Committee of the Congress of the Union, shall be returned to the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury, through the Vigilance Committee, for examination.

Article 16.- The entities shall furnish the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury with data, books and supporting documents and vouchers of receipt and public expenditure, that they maintain, as well as the corresponding programmes and sub-programmes in order to be able to assess the implementation of the same.

Article 17.- The entities shall maintain in their power, for an indefinite period of time, the accounts books and registers, as also the corresponding financial information; and, likewise, the Office of the Chief Accountant shall preserve the Laws of Receipts and the Budgets of Expenditure of the Federation and the Department of the Federal District and the old reports and results of the examination of Public Account.

The entities shall maintain in their power the supporting documents and vouchers of the Public Account, so long as actions resulting from the transactions contained in the same do not dispose otherwise; and the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury shall maintain the documents containing the observations it has made and the responsibilities it has fixed.

Article 18.- The Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury and the Programmes and Budget Secretariat shall jointly decide which supporting documents and vouchers of the Public Account, and which amortised or discharged securities and bonds of Federal Public Debt should be preserved, microfilmed or destroyed.

  

  

CHAPTER FIVE
Examination of the Public Account of the Federal Government and the Department of the Federal District

Article 19.- In order to implement the powers conferred on it by Article 3 of this Law, the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury has the right to examine all types of books, instruments, documents, conduct site visits, inspections and audits and, in general, gather the elements of information it requires in the performance of its duties.

In this respect, it may employ any legitimate means leading to the clarification of the facts and it may also apply, as required, auditing techniques and procedures.

Article 20-. The examination of the Public Account of the Federal Government and the Department of the Federal District shall inspect public receipt and expenditure, it shall determine the results of the financial management, verify whether the receipts actually accrue from the application of the Laws of Receipt and fiscal laws, special laws or the rules governing this matter, it shall check whether the public expenditure conforms to the Expenditure Budgets of the Federation and the Department of the Federal District and whether the approved programmes and sub-programmes have been completed.

The examination shall not just look into whether the heads of receipts and expenditure were complied with, but shall also extend to a legal, economic and accounting examination of public receipt and expenditure, and shall ascertain whether the amounts charged and paid were made in conformity with the authorised prices and tariffs or the market rates, and in conformity with the quantities paid for.

If from the examination discrepancies were to emerge between the amounts disbursed and the respective heads in the budgets, or if there were no accuracy in or justification for the expenses incurred, or for the receipts collected, appropriate responsibilities will be determined and steps will be taken to see to it that the concerned authorities fix responsibilities.

Article 21.- Pusuant to the powers conferred on it by the provisions of Article 3 of this Law, the Office of the Chief Accountant can audit entities, and such audit shall specifically include the following activities:

I. To ascertain whether the transactions were correctly made and whether the financial statements were presented at the appropriate time, in a truthful manner and in easily comprehensible terms, in accordance with the accounting principles that are applied in the government sector.

II. To determine whether the audited entities performed their duties in the collection of receipts and in the implementation of the budgets in keeping with the Laws of Receipt and Expenditure of the Federation and the Department of the Federal District and other fiscal and special laws as well as the rules governing this matter, and

III. To ascertain that the entities efficiently met the goals and objectives laid down in the programmes and sub-programmes, in respect of human, material and financial resources and that these conformed to the exercised Budgets of the Federation and the Department of the Federal Districts.

Article 22.- The visits, inspections and audits ordered by the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury shall be conducted by an auditor and other staff specifically deputed for the job. The auditor shall function as the representative of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury in so far as the job conferred on him is concerned.

The Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury can hire the professional services of specialists in order to improve the performance of its duties.

Article 23.- At the request of the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury, the entities shall inform him about the acts, agreements and contracts conferring rights and obligations on them, with a view to ascertaining if damages to the Federal Public Treasury or the Public Treasury of the Department of the Federal District could be derived from their terms and conditions, such as might affect the Public Account or imply non-compliance with any law in this matter.

Article 24.- The entities are obliged to furnish the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury any information that it requests and to allow necessary visits, inspections and audits to take place in order to clarify the facts.

The same obligation shall devolve on the officers of the State Governments, the Department of the Federal District, the agencies of the Public Sector Administration and the Municipalities, as well as private institutions, or individually run institutions, to which the Federal Government has given grants.

Article 25.- If any of the entities does not provide the information requested by the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury, or does not allow scrutiny of its books, instruments and supporting documents and vouchers of public receipts and expenditure, or does not allow visits, inspections and audits to be conducted, the same shall bring this to the notice of the House of Deputies through the Vigilance Committee, so that it may solve the problem in the appropriate manner.

The same procedure will be followed in the case of institutions or individuals who have received subsidies from the Federal Government.

Article 26.- The Office of the Chief Accountant has up to the 10th of September of the year following the receipt of the Public Account to carry out its scrutiny and render a report on the results to the House of Deputies, through the Vigilance Committee.

If for any reason, this period of time is not sufficient, the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury shall inform the House of Deputies, through the Vigilance Committee, and shall ask for an extension to conclude its scrutiny, giving the reasons compelling it to ask for the same. In no case shall the extension exceed three months.

  

  

CHAPTER SIX
Responsibilities

Article 27.- For purposes of this Law, responsibility devolves on any natural or artificial person who intentionally or due to negligence, causes damage or lose to the Federal Public Treasury or to the Department of the Federal District.

Article 28.- Responsibilities shall be attributable:

I. To the constituents of the federal treasury or the Department of the Federal District for non-compliance with the tax laws; to the employees and officers of the entities for incorrect application of the same, and to the employees and officers of the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury when, on examining the Public Account, they do not formulate observations on the irregularities they have detected.

II. To the officers or employees of the entities for incorrect application of the budgetary heads, absence of supporting documents or vouchers for the expenditure; to private companies and individuals who, in respect of expenditure by the Federal Government or the Department of the Federal District, are guilty of not have fulfilled the obligations undertaken through executed acts, agreements or contracts entered into with the entities, and to the employees or officers of the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury when, on examining the Public Account, they do not formulate their observations on irregularities detected; and

III. To the employees or officers of entities who, within the period of 45 working days as stipulated in Article 33 of this law, do not submit or stop submitting their reports on the rectification process as per the statements containing the observations formulated and submitted by the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury.

Article 29.- The purpose of fixing responsibilities according to this law, is to cover, in monetary terms, the amount of the damages or loses suffered by the Federal Public Treasury or the Department of the Federal District.

Administrative responsibilities shall be fixed regardless of those deriving from other laws and other penal sanctions imposed by the judicial authority.

Article 30.- The bodies that are part of the Public Sector Administration and their officers or employees, and private companies or individually run concerns, shall bear joint responsibility with the employees or officers that constitute the Centralised Public Administration or with the employees or officers of the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury, for their co-participation in acts of commission or omission sanctioned by the law.

The responsibilities that are attributed to the employees or officers of the entities or the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury, do not absolve those bodies belonging the Public Sector Administration, nor their officers or employees, nor the private companies and individually run concerns, from their liabilities. They will be expected to fulfil such liabilities even when their responsibility has been made totally of partially effective.

Article 31.- If from the scrutiny the Public Account of the Federal Government and the Department of the Federal District, responsibilities have been determined, the Chief Accountant of the Treasury shall see to it that the necessary measures are taken.

When there is a case involving senior officials, the provisions of Articles 108, 109, 110 and other relevant Articles of the Political Constitution of the United States of Mexico shall apply.

Article 32.- The Chief Accountant of the Treasury, in accordance with the provisions of Article 7, section VII, of this Law, shall directly send the documents containing observations resulting from the scrutiny of the Public Account of the Federal Government and the Department of the Federal District, to the corresponding entities, as well as those concerning private companies or individually run concerns that were also involved in the public receipts and expenditure.

The Chief Accountant of the Treasury shall convey the facts to the Programmes and Budget Secretariat for the purposes indicated in Articles 45, 46, 47 and 48 of the Law of Budget, Accounting and Federal Public Expenditure.

Article 33.- Within a non-extendible period of 45 working days starting from the date on which the documents containing the observations were received, the entities shall inform the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury and the Programmes and Budget Secretariat about the steps taken and the measures instituted in order to obtain the payments of the amounts not yet collected by the Federal Public Treasury or the Public Treasury of the Department of the Federal District, the reimbursement of the debts and loses caused and the fixing of the responsibilities devolving on their employees or officers, as well as the bodies of the Semi-State Public Administration and its officers and employees, private companies and individual run concerns, that might have been involved in public receipt or expenditure, and shall report back, if such is the case, about the penalties imposed, the amount of the penalties if they are financial penalties and the names of the penalised persons.

When the reports are not rendered or are discontinued within the mentioned period, the responsible employees or officers shall be punished according to the provisions of Article 48 of the Law of Budget, Accounting and Federal Public Expenditure, regardless of any sanctions resulting from the application of other laws.

Article 34.- The responsibilities deriving from acts of commission or omission mentioned in the provisions of the above Articles shall be implemented in the following order:

I. In respect of the application of the Laws of Receipt of the Federation and the Department of the Federal District and other fiscal laws, special laws and rules that are applicable in this matter:

a) To the direct debtor of the federal treasury of the Department of the Federal District; and

b) To the corresponding fiscal employees or officers and to those in the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury, if such is the case.

II. In respect of the implementation of the Budget of Expenditure of the Federation and the Department of the Federal District, to the officer and employees of the entities involved in the matter.

Article 35.- The employees or officers shall only enjoy the benefit of order but not that of excussion with regards to the responsibilities for which they are liable.

To proceed against the lower obligors, a requirement of payment from the higher obligors shall suffice, even if responsibility is not fully attributed, after resorting to all other legal means.

Article 36.- The Chief Accountant of the Treasury can impose the following penalties on the employees or officers of the department under his charge, who in the performance of their duties are liable to administrative responsibility:

I. Fine of $ 100.00 to $10,00.00, and

II. Temporary suspension from duties.

The above mentioned penalties shall be applied regardless of whether the responsibility from which they arise is made effective or not, and regardless of the sanctions envisaged in the provisions of Articles 44, 45 and 46 of the Federal Law for Civil Servants.

  

  

CHAPTER SEVEN
Prescription

Article 37.- The responsibilities of a civil or administrative nature referred to in this Law, resulting from acts of commission or omission, shall lapse at the end of five years after the year in which the responsibility was fixed.

Article 38.- The responsibilities of penal nature shall lapse in the manner and time as fixed by the concerned laws.

Article 39.- Any steps taken to recover money from the liable person on the part of the concerned authority, shall interrupt the prescription, which shall then be calculated from that moment onwards.

MISCELLANEOUS

First.- This Law will come into effect from the date of its publication in the "Official Journal" of the Federation.

The scrutiny of the Public Account for the financial year 1978 will be carried out in accordance with the provisions of this Order.

Second.- The provisions pertaining to the appointment of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury shall come into effect from September 1979.

Third.- The Vigilance Committee shall make the Internal Rules and Regulations of the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury within six months after the publication of this Law.

Fourth.- The Organic Law of the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Treasury of 31 December 1936 is hereby revoked as also any other provisions contrary to the present Law.