The Hellenic Republic Court of Audit (SAI Greece) is established under the constitution. Government appoints the Head of the SAI by selection from a panel. The procedure for terminating the appointment of the Head of the SAI is end of a four-year tenure, reaching the prescribed age limit of 67 years, or serious misconduct of professional duties, only after a decision of the State's Council Plenum. The President of the Court is appointed by a Presidential Decree issued on the advice of the Council of Ministers, among the Vice Presidents, Judge Counsellors and Vice Commissioners, who have been in office for more than four years. The Head of SAI is appointed for a fixed four-year tenure and/or age limit of 67 years.
The various conditions of service of the Head of the SAI to secure independence are:
The Hellenic Court of Audit is part of the Hellenic judicial system and is constitutionally on par with other Hellenic courts. It is one of three Supreme Courts of the State. The SAI has no financial independence. It implements a budget draft, which is finalised by the Minister of Finance and voted by the Parliament. There is no mechanism to secure accountability of the SAI.
The SAI's jurisdiction extends to following and there are no limitations imposed on this jurisdiction.
The SAI has powers of requisitioning all records of the auditee departments/organisations to discharge its mandate. The accounts of Central Government, Local Agencies and all Public Entities are submitted to the Court of Audit on a monthly and/or on annual basis.
The SAI has powers to enforce or initiate enforcement action to secure access to needed records which are not produced. The Court of Audit has the authority to impose a fine against the accounting officer in case of non-submission of the aforementioned accounts. However, the SAI does not have power to seal, search and seize documents and other related items considered necessary for audit and inspection. Further, it does not have power to seek testimonials of the persons concerned, but it can seek co-operation of persons other than agencies subject to audit. The financial inspectors of the Ministry of Finance are obliged to report on their audit findings to the Court of Audit.
The SAI does not have powers to instruct government investigating agencies to perform activities considered necessary. The SAI has authority to re-examine its own adjudication, e.g. in case of appeal, cassation and revocation. 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 and there are no specific procedure followed in this regard. The SAI does not have the authority to dispense with, in whole or part, the audit of Federal, Provincial and local Governments accounts and other related matters.
The SAI has powers to take punitive action and/or impose surcharges. The Court of Audit has the authority to impose a fine against the accounting officer in case of non-submission of the aforementioned accounts.
The SAI prescribes Financial and Compliance Audits in its scope of Audit. The powers to perform these audits are mandated by the law governing the SAI. The SAI conducts Pre-audit and Special audit such as Payment-orders and Accounts. The audit of SAI is limited to legality and regularity issues. The SAI discharges judicial functions. It may charge the accounting officer with any deficit discovered in the course of the audit. The audit court is assisted by auditors who conduct the field work. There is a special code of procedure provided by law (Presidential Decree 1225/1981), which is followed by the audit court. The cases of willful losses/frauds are communicated to the district attorney office. The Annual Report on our SAI's audit work is published in the State's Official Gazette. 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 e.g.
The SAI prepares and submits to the Parliament an Annual Report on its audit findings. Comments of the auditees are included.
The SAI is constituted as a Court/ Tribunal Audit/Accounts. The SAI is a multimember collegiate body and it is a Court of accounts/Audit. The Head of SAI and other members enjoy the status and independence of a judge. The Head of the Personnel Department is responsible for the SAI's day-to-day functioning.
The SAI can expend resources budgeted independently and it has full independence in forming its workplan. The SAI recruits its audit and other staff in the same way as all the other public servants. The SAI is not subject to an independent audit. The SAI is required to submit a report on its activities to the Parliament.