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FEDERAL LAW ON THE SWISS FEDERAL AUDIT OFFICE
(of 28th June 1967)
(Revision 7th October 1994)
(Revision 19th March 1999)
(Revision 8th October 1999)
The Federal Assembly
of the Swiss Confederation,
by virtue of Art. 85 sub-paras. 10 and 11 and Art. 102 sub-paras. 14 and 15 of the Federal Constitution, and after examination of a Message of the Federal Council dated 25th November 1966,
hereby enacts:
1. The Swiss Federal Audit Office is the supreme financial supervisory organ of the Swiss confederation. In its auditing activity it is bound only by the federal constitution and the law. It supports
a. the Federal Assembly in the exercise of the latter's constitutional financial powers and supervision of the Federal Administration and Federal Courts;
b. the Federal Council in the exercise of the latter's supervision of the Federal Administration.
2. The Federal Audit office shall be independent and autonomous within the scope of the legal provisions hereof. The Federal Audit Office shall determine its audit program annually and notify the Joint Committee on Finance of the Federal Parliament and the Federal Council of it. It may refuse to undertake special assignments if the same would endanger the execution of its audit program.
3. For Administrative purposes the Federal Audit office shall be assigned to the Federal Department of Finance.
1. The Federal Audit Office and its staff shall be headed by a Director. He or She shall be the electoral authority for the whole staff of the Federal Audit Office. In so far as nothing to the contrary shall be stipulated here below, the employment law of the General Federal Administration shall be applied analogously.
2. The Federal Council shall elect the Director for a period of office of six years. The election requires the approval by the Federal Assembly. In the event of a serious infringement of his or her official duty, the Federal Council may dismiss the Director before the expiry of his or her period of office. This shall be subject to the reservation of an administrative court appeal to this Federal Court.
3. The Federal Audit Office shall submit the draft of its annual preliminary proposal to the Federal Council. The latter shall pass it unchanged to the Federal Assembly.
4. The Federal Parliament shall determine the total number of persons employed and the staff emoluments of the Federal Audit Office together with the approval of the preliminary proposal for the General Federal Administration.
The Federal Audit Office may engage experts when ever the execution of its assignment requires special expertise or cannot be guaranteed with its regular staff.
The Director shall be competent to authorize the giving of evidence and the handover of documents in judicial proceedings. Prior thereto he shall obtain the consent of the head of the department in whose sphere of responsibility the matter falls
1. The Federal Audit Office shall execute the supervision of finance according to the criteria of regularity, legality and performance.
2. It shall execute performance audits to clarify whether
a. the resources are being used economically;
b. costs and benefits are in a favorable proportion;
c. the financial expenditure have achieved the intended objectives
In particular, the Federal Audit Office shall perform the following duties:
a. It examines the entire financial administration during all stages of executing the budget and exercises controls through spot checks prior to obligations being made.
b. It examines the provision of the federal accounts.
c. It takes care that the administrative units control the funds allotted to them and it examines the management of the long-term appropriations.
d. It examines the internal control system.
e. It examines through spot checks the payment orders issued by the administrative units.
f. It carries out the auditing of the administrative units, including the accounts and inventories.
g. It examines the suitability of monopoly prices within the framework of the purchasing administration of the Confederation.
h. It examines whether the EDP applications in the areas of financial management exhibit the necessary security and ability to function, especially whether the directives issued by the Swiss Federal Office of Information technology and system are being followed.
i. It carries out the control mandates of international organizations
1. The Federal Audit Office shall participate in the drafting of regulations pertaining to the internal control and auditing services, the accounting, payment transfer and inventory systems. It shall advise on all matters which affect financial control.
2. The Federal Audit Office may be invited to participate in the discussions of the committees charged with preparing the budget and the Federal annual accounts. Its services may also be drawn upon with regard to appropriation requests.
1. With the reservation of the special provisions under Article 19 as well as the special statutory regulations, subject to the financial control of the Federal Audit Office shall be
a. the administrative units of the central and decentralized Federal Administration;
b. the Parliamentary Services;
c. the recipients of compensations and financial aids;
d. corporations, institutions and organizations of every legal form to which the performance of public tasks shall have been entrusted by the Confederation;
e. enterprises in the registered, nominal or share capital of which the Confederation shall participate with over 50 per cent.
The Swiss Federal Audit Office shall carry out its audits at undertakings in accordance with para.1, clause e in agreement with their boards. It may consult the internal and external audit. It shall submit its report to the board for the attention of the General Meeting and at the same time inform the Federal Council and the Joint Committee on Finance of the Federal Parliament.
2. The Federal courts shall only be subject to the financial scrutiny of the Federal Audit Office insofar as the supervision through the Federal Assembly shall be furthered thereby.
3. The Federal Audit Office shall also exercise financial control where in pursuance of legal provisions or regulations a system of internal control has already been set up.
1. The Federal Chancellery shall furnish the Federal Audit Office with all decrees and resolutions passed by the Federal Assembly and the Federal Council which relate to the administration of Federal finances.
2. The departments, the divisions thereof, and the Federal courts shall inform the Federal Audit Office of all directives and ordinances which they issue in pursuance of the said decrees and resolutions.
3. At the request of the Federal Audit Office the departments and their divisions shall furnish it with all documents and records pertaining to legal acts and binding declarations inasmuch as they concern the administration of Federal finances.
1. Notwithstanding any obligations to maintain secrecy the Federal Audit office shall be authorized to request information and, in particular, to examine documents and records. The postal and telegraphic secret shall in all events be guaranteed.
2. Whoever is subject to the supervision of the Federal Audit Office shall be obliged to give it all the necessary assistance in the execution of its duties.
3. The administrative units of the Confederation concede the right to the Federal Audit office to call on any necessary data, including personal data, from the appropriate data collection that is required for the maintenance of the supervision of finance. If required the rights of data access extend to especially protection-worthy personal data. The Federal Audit Office may only save knowledge of personal data gained in this manner until the conclusion of the audit procedure. The access to the various collections of data and the objectives pursued with it must be recorded.
1. The internal audit units of the federal administration, including those of the Federal Court and the enterprises and institutions of the government, shall be responsible for the control of the financial management in their domain. They shall be directly assigned to the managing director, or respectively the executive management, however autonomous and independent in the fulfilment of their control duties. Their rules and regulations shall be subject to approval of the Federal Audit Office. The Federal Audit Office can submit petitions to the Federal Council for the creation of new internal audit units.
2. The Federal Audit Office shall supervise the effectiveness of the controls by the internal auditing services and guarantee the co-ordination. The financial inspectorates shall inform the Federal Audit Office of their annual audit programs as well as of all reports and notify it without delay of all ascertained deficiencies of any fundamental or considerable financial importance.
3. The Federal Audit Office shall also be responsible for the training and further education of the personnel of the financial inspectorates within the general federal administration.
1. The Federal Audit Office shall inform the audited administrative unit in writing of their findings.
2. For examinations of organizations and persons outside of the federal administration, it shall notify the federal administrative unit responsible for the financial management of its reports and declarations. It may criticise the financial management and request appropriate measures.
3. Should the audited administrative unit reject one of the objections of the Federal Audit office concerning performance, then it shall submit its proposal to the higher department. The decision of the Department may be contested by the administrative unit and the Federal Audit Office before the Federal Council. The latter shall decide conclusively.
4. Should the audited administrative unit reject one of the objections of the Federal Audit office concerning regularity or legality, then it can state formally its examination findings and can moreover issue binding directives.
5.The administrative unit audited may contest the decision of the Federal Audit Office before the Federal Council. The latter shall decide conclusively.
1. The Federal Audit Office shall exchange the auditing, respectively the examination programs with the State Audit of the Federal Council and with the Parliamentary Administrative Control and coordinate its tasks with these offices in direct contact.
2. Should the Federal Audit Office observe in the execution of the financial supervision fundamental problems in the financial management or deficiencies in the organization, the administrative management or the execution of tasks, then according to the area of problems it informs the Federal Office of Finance, the Federal Office of Personnel, the Federal Office of Information technology and systems or the Federal Data Protection Commissioner. Should it determine deficits or deficiencies in the legislation, then it informs the Federal Office for Justice. Those administrative units concerned render a report of the preventive measures taken by them to the Federal Audit Office
1. The Federal Audit Office shall compile a report on every audit completed by it. It shall submit this to the Joint Committee on Finance of the Federal Parliament, including the comment by the agency audited with a summary. It shall also submit the summary to the Department head concerned by the audit findings. It shall compile interim reports on prolonged audits.
2. After the Joint Committee on Finance of the Federal Parliament shall have dealt with an audit report from the Federal Audit Office, it may publish its report together with the comment by the agency audited and any evaluations by the Joint Committee on Finance of the Federal Parliament.
3. The Federal Audit Office shall submit a report annually to the Joint Committee on Finance of the Federal Parliament and the Federal Council in which it shall inform about the extent and the main focus of its auditing activity, important findings and evaluations, as well as pending audits and the reasons for the same. The report shall be published.
4. The Federal Council, on the basis of the pending audits brought to its knowledge in the annual reports by the Federal Audit Office, shall monitor the elimination of the matters complained of with respect to compliance with regulations and legality and the implementation of the applications in the field of the economic viability audits.
1. The Federal Audit Office deals directly with the Standing Committees on Finance and the Joint Committee on Finance of the Federal Parliament, the Federal Council, the administrative units of the Confederation, the Federal Courts as well as with all organizations and individuals outside the Federal Administration who are submitted to its financial supervision.
2. The Federal Audit office shall inform the head of the Federal Department of Finance and Customs of all matters on which it has direct dealings with other departmental heads, the Federal Chancellor or the Federal Council.
3. Should the Federal Audit Office determine particular occurrences or deficiencies of a fundamental or considerable financial importance, then besides that particular division it shall also inform the head of the department in charge as well as the head of the Federal Department of Finance. Should the ascertained deficiencies concern the financial management of a division of the Federal Department of Finance, the President, respectively the Vice President of the Federal Council shall be notified. At the same time it shall inform the Joint Committee on Finance of the Federal Parliament If it shall regard it as expedient, it shall inform the Federal Council instead of the Department head responsible.
1. Within the scope of its powers the Federal Audit Office shall monitor and conduct audits on the use made by the Cantons of Federal moneys (subsidies, loans, advances) allotted to them provided such control is foreseen by a Federal law or decree.
2. In all other cases the Federal Audit Office may only examine the use of Federal funds with the consent of the Cantonal government concerned.
3. As a rule the Federal Audit office shall work together with the Cantonal auditing services to whom it may delegate certain auditing assignments.
4. The competent administrative divisions of the Cantons shall convey and give to the Federal Audit Office all and every support necessary for the execution of its tasks and assignments.
1. Where in the course of its monitoring and auditing activity pursuant to Art. 16 para. I herein-before the Federal Audit office discovers irregularities in the Cantons or divisions set up by them, it shall approach and inform the competent Federal division thereof. The latter shall settle the matter finally in conjunction with the Cantonal divisions concerned. As to the relations between the Federal divisions and the Federal Audit Office the provisions governing the procedure in the case of complaints (Art. 12 hereinbefore) shall apply mutatis mutandis.
2. In the event of the Federal Audit Office discovering irregularities in the instances governed by Art. 16 para. 2 herein above it shall at the same time inform both the Cantonal government and the competent Federal divisions thereof and make the necessary proposals.
1. The Secretary of the Standing Committees on Finance and the Joint Committee on Finance shall manage and run the joint Secretariat in accordance with the provisions of Articles 48 to 50 of the Federal Law on Parliamentary Procedure of 23rd March 1962. He shall have to this effect the same powers at his disposal as the Federal Audit office to obtain documentation and information, to examine documents and to request administrative assistance. He shall liase between the Standing Committees and Joint Committee on Finance on the one hand, and between the Federal Audit Office and the authorities and departments subject to financial scrutiny on the other hand.
2. The appointment of the Secretary by the Committee on Administration of the Federal Assembly shall require the ratification of the Joint Committee on Finance. The Secretariat shall be assigned for administrative purposes to the Parliamentary Services which shall make available to it the necessary staff.
The special relations between the Joint Committee on Finance, the Standing Committees on Finance and their Secretariat on the one hand and the Federal Audit Office on the other hand are regulated in the Standing Orders for the Standing Committees and the Joint Committee on Finance.
3. As for the rest, the Standing Committees and Joint Committee on Finance shall regulate the management of the Secretariat in their own standing orders.
1. The Swiss National Accident Insurance Organization and the Swiss National Bank do not fall into the scope of financial supervision through the Federal Audit office.
2. Other special arrangements must be expressly provided for by law.
cancelled by act of the Federal Assembly
Implementing provisions shall be, enacted by a generally binding Federal decree not subject to a referendum
1. The Federal Council shall fix the date of the entry into force of the present law.
2. On the same date the Regulations on Federal financial control (passed by the Federal Assembly on 2nd April 1927) shall be repealed.
