1) The court of Accounts shall be the supreme financial auditing entity and shall work under the Parliament. The court shall exercise independently all powers specifically granted by the constitution and other relevant laws of the republic.

2) The Court of Accounts shall be a legal entity and shall have its seal with the coat of arms of the Republic of Moldova.

3) The head office of the Court of Accounts shall be in Chisnau.

Art.2

1) The court of accounts shall decide autonomously upon its work program.

2) The audits performed by the Court of Accounts shall be initiated from the head office. The audits may be assisted by the Parliament in case the powers granted by law would be overfulfiled.

3) The Parliament's decision that requires audits by the Court of Accounts within its powers shall be irrevocable.

4) Additional audits on the public financial resources management may be performed without the Parliament's decision at the request of a parliamentary faction (group) supported in written by at least 20 deputies.

5) No other public authorities can oblige the Court of Accounts to initiate controls and/or revisions.

Art.3

1) The Court of Accounts shall furnish to the Parliament not later than December, 1 an annual report on public financial resources management and use.

2) The Court of accounts annual report shall be examined by the Parliament and published in the official Monitor of the Republic of Moldova.

3) The Court of Accounts may furnish through relevant permanent commissions additional reports on audits results or state special importance that require the Parliament's decision.

Art.4

1) The Court of Accounts shall have full access to acts, documents and information of any legal or physical person necessary while exercising its auditing powers.

2) All physical and legal persons subjected to audits performed by the Court of Accounts shall be obliged to furnish to the Court of Accounts in terms establish by the Court all the required acts, documents and informations and to provide for the into their offices.

3) If the Court of Accounts shall get acquainted with information considered to be state, service, commercial or private secrecy, it shall be obliged to observe its character and disclose it only to authorized entities.

Art.5

The Court of Accounts shall have own budget that shall be separate in the State budget.

Art.6

The general functions of the Court of Accounts shall be established by the Parliament.

Art.7

1) The Court of Accounts may participate in the work of international entities of relevant speciality and become a member of these entities.

2) The Court of Accounts may collaborate with international entities of relevant speciality and perform on their behalf audits on the management of funds offered to the Republic of Moldova if these powers are pursuant to international agreements, conventions and treaties.

Art.8

If necessary, the Court of Accounts shall work together with the General Prosecutor's Office, with domestic affairs entities and other legal protection and auditing entities without intruding with their activity regarding the Prosecutor's supervision and inquiry and legal proceedings.

Chapter II
Organisation and Administration of the Court of Accounts

Art.9

The Court of Accounts shall be composed of seven members.

Art.10

The management of the Court of Accounts shall be exercised by its President and Vice-President.

Art.11

The President shall be nominated by the Parliament pursuant to the proposal of the President of the Parliament for a term of five years. The Court members shall be nominated by Parliament pursuant to the proposal of the President of the Court.

Art.12

The President of the Court of Accounts shall propose to the Parliament for confirmation the candidate for the position of Vice-President nominated among the Court members.

Art.13

The President and Vice-President of the Court of Accounts shall have right to participate at parliament and Government meetings.

Art.14

Candidates for President, Vice-President, Chiefs of divisions of the Court of Accounts must be citizens the Republic of Moldova; they must be persons with relevant studies and professional experiences of at least 15 years in economic, financial and legal activity.

Art.15

1) The members of the Court of Accounts shall be independent in their functions exercising.

2) The members of the Court of Accounts shall not have any other private, public or remunerated positions.

3) The president and the members of the Court of Accounts may be removed from office by the Parliament if they do not perform the functions sufficiently; have violated the current legislation or have engaged in serious misconduct in the office and the decision has been adopted by the majority of the votes cast of the elected deputies.

Art.16

1) Pursuant to the Regulations approved by the Parliament there are divisions and subdivisions working within the Court of Accounts.

2) Sections shall be managed by the members of the Court of Accounts.

Art.17

The members of the Court of Accounts shall be nominated and resignated from office by the President of the Court.

Art.18

1) The Court of Accounts may use outside experts of high qualification from different fields in consulting, auditing and expertise performance. These experts shall be remunerated pursuant to the current legislation.

2) Controls and revisions may be performed by other auditing entities from the republic at the request of the Court of Accounts. The Court of Accounts shall be furnished all the documents.

Chapter III
Auditing functions of the Court of Accounts

Section I - General provisions

Art.19

1) The Court of Accounts shall perform audits on both setting, administration and use of public financial resources and public patrimony management.

2) The Court of Accounts shall through its audits pursue the law observance and implementation of economic, rationalizational and efficient principles in the management of State financial and material means.

Art.20

In order to exercise the powers pursuant to Art.19 the Court of Accounts shall have audit on:

a) establishment and use of State budget resources, State social insurances budget;

b) establishment, use and management of extrabudgetary funds and of public treasury funds;

c) establishment and management of public debt, observance of state guaranties for domestic and external credits;

d) use of budgetary allocations for investments, of subventions and other state financial assistance;

e) implementation, rationalisation and efficiency of intergovernmental treaties in the economic-financial sector;

f) the state patrimony privatisation and denationalisation process;

g) the activity of other auditing entities;

h) money issuance, use of state credit and foreign exchange resources;

i) financial management of funds, associations, concerns, companies, bug monopolist societies, and enterprises that have a definite rolls in the economic development of the republic;

j) other fields of activity subjected by constitutional laws to the competence of the Court of Accounts.

Art.21

The following entities shall be subjected to financial revisions:

a) the permanent staff of the Parliament, of the President of the Republic of Moldova, the State Office, the Supreme Court, the Economic Court, the General Prosecutor's Office;

b) economic agents, no matter their property type and legal form, on the legitimate, effective and on destination use of state resources allocated for the realisation of state programs and orders.

Art.22

The Court of Accounts shall perform controls and revisions on the activity of ministries, of departments, of the National Bank, of commercial banks with the state share, of the State Main Fiscal Inspectorate under the Ministry of Finance, of the Division and Financial Supervision Department under the Government, of other public authorities and economic agents, if necessary.

Art.23

All the document on public debt from which the state duties result shall be countersigned by the President of the Court of Accounts. The countersignature shall guarantee the credit legality and its registration in the book of public debt.

Art.24

The audits performed by the Court of Accounts may be preventive and subsequent.

Section 2. - Auditing proceedings

Art.25

1) The Court of Accounts shall perform audits on site.

2) The staff of the Court of Accounts nominated to perform controls and revisions shall prepare reports (acts) in which the revealed violations shall be listed and shall be listed and shall be responsible for their veracity.

3) The reports on controls and revisions results shall be examined b the Court of Accounts in the presence of officials from the controlled object.

4) The Court of Accounts shall make decisions on reports pursuant to the current legislation

5) In case the credit account of the controlled object shall not agree with the decision of the Court of Accounts they may appeal to the Supreme Court. The decision of the Supreme Court shall be irrevocable.

6) The decisions adopted by the Court of Accounts on the performed audits shall be furnished to credit accountants of the controlled object. The supreme hierarchical and if necessary, financial and legal relevant entities shall be informed about the revealed violations.

7) The managers of the controlled object shall within a month inform the Court of Accounts on the undertaken remedial measures.

Chapter IV
Other functions of the Court of Accounts and Responsibilities of Court members

Section 1. - Other functions of the Court of Accounts

Art.26

Beside auditing functions the Court of Accounts shall:

a) work out approve its annual financial audit program;

b) advise on state budget draft and on state social insurance's budget;

c) make modifications in its internal activity within the legal frame work without affecting its legal competence and budget provisions;

d) discuss and present its own budget draft with the view to integrating it into the state budget;

e) nominate the chief of divisions;

f) examine periodically the reports on activity of the Court of Accounts;

g) suspend banking discounts of the controlled economic agent if violation of the current legislation has been revealed;

h) in case material damages to the state have been revealed, furnish the audit documents to legal authorities with the view to remedying the situation pursuant to the current legislation;

i) demand for the resignation from office of persons that have violated the legislation or have not ensure its observance.

Art.27

The Court of Accounts shall exercise its powers in the presence of at least 5 persons. The decision shall be adopted with the majority of votes cast of its members.

Art.28

1) The President of the Court of Accounts shall:

a) represents the Court of Accounts in its relationship with public institutions, relevant domestic and external entities and ensure the stability of this relationship;

b) convoke and preside the meetings of the Court of Accounts, ensure the implementation of adopted decisions;

c) furnish to the Parliament reports and advice of the Court of Accounts;

d) nominate and resignate from office the members of the Court of Accounts pursuant to the current legislation:

e) ensure the discipline observance and impose penalties pursuant to the current legislation;

f) inform the Parliament about vacancies in the Court, approve the list of vacancies that shall in order to be filled be open for contest;

g) decide on the formation of control groups that shall work only for terms established tasks realisation;

h) organise controls performance as requested by the Parliament and other audits not proposed in the annual financial audit program of the Court of Accounts;

i) organise contests to fill vacancies on divisions and subdivisions of the Court of Accounts;

j) authorize the entering into work and services agreements required for the Court activity;

k) if the President of the Court of Accounts is absent, the Vice-President shall exercise the mentioned in paragraph1.

Section 2 - Responsibilities of Court members

Art.29

1) The Court members shall be obliged:

a) to perform the vested functions honestly and pursuant to the Constitution;

b) to express his/her vote in favour or against in adopting the Court of Accounts acts; abstention shall not be considered;

c) to furnish to the President of the Court in written form any situation that may cause incompatibility with his/her mandate;

d) not to allow the use of vested powers for commercial advertising;

e) to abstain from any activity or manifestation that is in opposition to the independence and dignity of Court member;

2) The violation by any Court member of any of responsibilities mentioned in paragraph 1 shall incur the resignation from office.

Art.30

The members of the Court of Accounts may be subject to Court only if required by the General Prosecutor.

Chapter V
Rights and responsibilities of the Court employees

Art.31

The employees of the Court of Accounts shall have the right:

a) to require any document and other material that reflect the economic activity of the controlled object;

b) to have free entrance on the territory, storehouses, warehouses, work buildings and other places of the controlled object to check the presence and use of state material and financial resources;

c) to receive from the managers and other officials of the controlled object oral and written explications, copies of documents of the controlled object;

d) to extract documents and to seal where documents, money and of the controlled object are kept;

e) to require from the National Bank and from commercial banks with the state share copies of documents on performed financial operations.

Art.32

The employees of the Court of Accounts shall be obliged:

a) to furnish to inquiry entities through the management of the Court of Accounts materials on revealed financial violations. The material shall contain the details of the violations;

b) to guarantee the non-disclosure of state, service, commercial and private secrecy.

Art.33

The employees of the Court of Accounts shall be responsible for the misrepresentation of controls results, for the presentation of erroneous data to the Court of Accounts and to other entities pursuant to the current legislation.

Chapter VI
Final dispositions

Art.34

1) The permanent staff of the parliament, of the President, of the Republic of Moldova, the State office, the ministers and departments, other public authorities, the National Bank shall furnish to the Court of Accounts the adopted normative acts on operations mentioned in Art.20

2) The public authorities shall be obliged to support officials from the Court of Accounts to exercise their functions, to offer them the necessary support in performing controls and revisions, to offer them offices, transport and communication means.

Art.35

The Parliament shall perform control over the activity of the Court of Accounts and over its expense budget.

Art.36

The Law No.465-XII from January 31, 1991 on the State Control Department of the Republic of Moldova has been repealed.

Petru LUCHINSKI
President of the Parliament