The SAI (Croatia) is established by an act of Parliament/Legislative body. The SAI's head is appointed By Parliament. The AG can be dismissed before expiry of the tenure:
The SAI's head is appointed for a fixed tenure and the AG shall be appointed for the term of 8 years and can be reappointed. The various conditions of service of the head SAI or features of the mandate to secure independence are:
The SAO is independent institution accountable only to the Parliament. SAO's financial independence is not on the satisfactory level. The process of allocation of budgetary resources is the same as for other budget users: Ministry of finance incorporates SAO's budget proposal in the central government budget draft, which is then submitted to the Parliament for adoption.
The SAI's jurisdiction extends to following and there are no limitations on this jurisdiction.
The SAI has jurisdiction Regulatory bodies (eg. Privatisation, Environment, Pollution Control, telecom etc.).
The SAI has power of requisitioning all records of the auditee department/organisations to discharge its mandate.According to the law, a legal representative of a legal entity where an audit is performed shall furnish the auditee with complete required documentation, deeds, statements and other records, as well as provide other information needed for the audit work. According to the provisions of the State Audit Act, a legal representative of auditee shall be fined in certain amount of money if:
The SAI does not have power to seal, search and seize documents and other related items considered necessary for audit and inspection. It has power to seek testimonials of the persons concerned and can not seek co-operation of persons other than agencies subject to audit. Provision are started in the INTOSAI Auditing Standards and European guidelines for their implementation.
The SAI does not have powers to instruct government investigating agencies to perform activities considered necessary. The SAI does not have powers to decide on claims of interested persons in connection with official actions, duties and behaviour of persons subject to audit and inspection. The SAI has powers to take punitive action and /or impose surcharges. The SAI have powers to review the development of computer systems auditees and suggest/enforce any controls. It has no role in appointment of the external auditors engaged by the auditees.
The SAI prescribes Financial, Compliance, Performance audit in its Audit. Under the law, audit is the examination of documents, deeds, statements, internal control and internal audit systems, accounting financial procedures and other records in order to determine whether financial statements truly reflect the financial activities in compliance with accepted accounting principles and standards. It is also procedure of examining financial transactions in terms of legal utilization of funds. It also includes a assessment of the 3E of certain activities and assessment of the efficiency pursuing the the objectives of a project. The SAI conducts the Concurrent audit. SAI does not perform judicial functions. All audit methods and procedures in SAO are performed in compliance with the established INTOSAI Auditing Standards. According to the SAO'S internal procedures, auditors, are obliged during every audit to check what progress has been made in the auditee's situation since the last audit. Also, once a year SAO submits to the Parliament the Annual Report on executed audits and its Annual work report which contain follow-up on findings in audit reports.
The SAI is required to follow specific standards, practices and guidelines in conducting audit and reporting. The SAI can consult and /or collaborate with other countries/SAIs and international organisations on matters relating to audit. As member of INTOSAI and EUROSAI, SAO participate in their Congresses, seminars, working group and meetings devoted to the development of state auditing. The SAO also organize seminars in corporation with SAI's carries out parallel audits and maintain close bi-lateral corporation with other, especially neighbouring, SAIs. The SAO can engage an experts for dealing with specific problems involved in an audit procedure. The SAI can report on acts that infringe upon State economic interests like mass embezzlement of state assets, serious losses and wastes.
Audit finding are the past of audit reports, which are included in the SAO's Annual Report and submitted to the Parliament once a year. Simultaneously, reports are published on the web sites. The SAI has the power to share its audit reports with the public and media, simultaneously with the reporting process.
The SAI is constituted as An audit office with monocratic status i.e. with an Auditor General or equivalent as head. The SAI is empowered to engage external auditors/agencies/consultants
SAI can not expend resources budgeted independently. Spending has to be in accordance with the Law on State Budget Execution. The SAI have full independence in forming its workplan. SAO recruits its staff in according with its need. Procedure of recruitment is the same as for other civil servants (on the base of public competition), while state auditors shall meet certain requirements defined in the State Audit Act as well. The SAI is not subject to an independent audit. The SAI is required to submit a report an its activities to the Parliament, once a year.