The establishment of the Audit Court was stipulated by article 87 of the Lebanese Constitution, promulgated on May 23rd, 1926, but the Court did not come into being before 1951. It was constituted by virtue of article 223 of the Public Accountancy Act, promulgated on January 16th, 1951, which stipulates that: "An Audit Court shall be established to supervise the management of public funds..."
Since its establishment, the Audit Court has been reorganized by many legislative acts especially Decree-law N° 82 dated September 16th, 1983 (the recent Audit Court Organization Act).
The Audit Court is an administrative tribunal with financial jurisdiction. Its task is to oversee the management of public and treasury funds...".
The Audit Court composes of judges, controllers and account auditors. It includes the administrative employees and an independent Public Prosecution.
The Audit Court consists of many chambers. Each chamber consists of one president and two judges.
The Audit Court has a council consists of the President, the Public Prosecutor and the three highest ranking presidents.
The Audit Court consists, also, of a general assembly which composes of all the judges in addition to the judges of the Public Prosecution. It issues to unity various interpretations. It meets upon request by the President, the Public Prosecutor and five members of the Assembly. Its opinions are for guidance and do not blind the Court.
There are two types of administrative control : a prior control and a posterior control.
The Audit Court is under the administrative authority of the Prime Minister, and it submits an annual report to him at the end of each year.
Though the Audit Court is administratively under the authority of the Prime Minister, and though this relation is an obstacle from financial and administrative independence in a way or another, but this doesn't forbid the judges to practice their independence.
Also, the President of the Audit Court is permanently empowered with the financial and administrative prerogatives of the minister as specified by law with the exception of constitutional powers granted to ministers and this gives him the opportunity to stay out of control of any outside authority.
The following administration are subjected to the control of the Court.
a- The state administration
b- The municipalities of big cities and all other municipalities subjected to the control of the Court, and those which will be, in the future, subjected to its control by decree of the Council of Ministers.
c- The public enterprises that are under the authority of the State.
d- The control bodies which represent the state in the institutions under its authority, or to which the State guarantees a minimum profit.
e- The institutions, associations and all other bodies and corporations which have, through participation, assistance or credit, a financial relationship with the state or with municipalities or with public enterprises under the authority of the state or municipalities.
The Audit Court practices the following control
a- Administrative Control: There are two types of administrative control:
* Prior administrative control: The purpose of it is to ascertain the validity of transactions and their conformity with the budget, and with established laws and regulations.
* Posterior administrative control : The purpose of it is to evaluate financial transactions and their overall results, from the time they are concluded until the end of their execution and their entry into the accounts, and as mentioned before, an annual report is prepared as well as other reports regarding this control.
b- Judicial Control: It consists of:
Control over the accounts.
Control of officers who manage or use public funds or treasury funds.
Control over the texts of appointment of civil servants.
Advisory opinions: These opinions are given by the Court upon the request of the agencies subjected to its control.
Finally, we should mention that the prior control, though it's not practiced in most countries, but the Lebanese Audit Court still practices this control for the importance of time and the importance of public funds and for the reason that the good employee is the one who tries to improve the administration he belongs to. In addition, this kind of control is essential to prevent all faults that could take place in the preparation stages. So, the Lebanese Audit Court considers himself as a guide in order to avoid mistakes in future.