File n° 8 

The Court of Auditors was set up in 1807 and has gradually seen its role broaden with the extension of the powers of both the State and the public sector.

Nowadays it has within its remit, the obligatory monitoring of :

— The State ;

— National public entities ;

— Public companies ;

— Social security agencies.

In all these cases, referral to the Court of Auditors is a matter of law and is thus automatic.

It also has within its remit, the optional monitoring of :

— Agencies in private law with a majority of votes or capital held by bodies submitted to obligatory monitoring by the Court of Auditors or in which such bodies have a dominating decision-making or managerial role 

— Agencies in private law (particularly associations) supported by public funding ;

— Bodies of “general interest” funded by donations from the general public ;

— Bodies supported by European Union funding ;

— Bodies entitled to receive legally obligatory fees or taxes.

I. –the monitoring of legality  :
the Court of Auditors as the judge of the accounts of state public accountants

Articles L. 111-1 and L. 111-3 of the Code of Financial Jurisdictions state that “the Court of Auditors judges the accounts of public accountants” and that it “checks the correctness of the expenditure described in public accounts”.

The Court of Auditors is thus responsible for checking that the tax revenue has been collected and that expenditure has been made in accordance with the accountancy rules in force. It analyses the accounts and pertaining documents and examines the balance of the accounts.

It releases the accountant from responsibility if the accounts are correct but declares him with a balance due if tax revenue has been lost or if expenditure has been irregularly carried out. The responsibility of the account is thus both personal and financial.

The Court of Auditors does not only judge the accounts of public accountants but also those of every person who has been involved in an irregular manner with the handling of public funds ; the de facto accountant, so declared beforehand by the Court of Auditors, is then submitted to the same requirements and to the same responsibilities as a public accountant.

II. – the monitoring of management  :
the Court of Auditors and the correct use of public funds

The Court of Auditors does not judge the officials empowered to authorize expenditure but checks the correct use of public funds (according to L.111-3 of the Code of Financial Jurisdictions, it “checks the correct use of credits, funds and assets managed by state bodies”), either when it examines the accounts of state and public entity accountants or when it directly verifies the management of officials empowered to authorize expenditure.

In 1976, the Court of Auditors also received the responsibility previously held by the Public Companies’ Accounts Verification Committee which since 1948 had been monitoring public companies and was then a body attached to the Court of Auditors. Thus the Court of Auditors expresses its opinion on the correctness and the legality of such accounts and proposes improvements, if necessary. It also provides an opinion on the quality of management of such companies.

Since 1950 the remit of the Court of Auditors has also included the monitoring of social security agencies. Almost all such agencies are private law legal entities whose resources are contributions of an obligatory nature. At a local level the accounts of social security offices are often checked by the departmental committees for account verification (CODEC) under the supervision of the Court of Auditors. 

In addition, state aid to a private body may take the form of a grant. The remit of the Court of Auditors includes checking the use of such public aid and since 1991, it has been extended to include agencies requesting donations from the general public. 

In the case of clear irregularities in the management of the officials empowered to authorize expenditure, working for one of these agencies or for a state body, the Court of Auditors may refer the matter to the Court of Budgetary and Financial Discipline (CDBF).

III. – Assistance To Parliament and Government 

Articles 47 and 47-1 of the Constitution state that the Court of Auditors will assist Parliament and the Government in monitoring the implementation of finance laws and social security finance laws.

Such assistance by the Court of Auditors consists, first of all, in the transmission of a number of documents only some of which are public.

Parliament receives the public reports of the Court of Auditors :

― The annual report to the President of the Republic, which is, in accordance with article L.136-1 of the Code of Financial Jurisdictions, “presented to Parliament”. This presentation takes the form of a formal tabling of the report by the First President of the Court of Auditors in the Chamber of each of the assemblies. The law of July 12, 2005 provides that this report may lead to a debate both in the National Assembly and in the Senate (article 11, thus modifying the institutional law of August 1, 2001 concerning finance laws) ;

― Thematic or specific public reports resulting from enquiries by the Court of Auditors, sometimes jointly with the regional chambers of accounts. 

Parliament also receives documents which are not public : specific reports on the management and accounts of public companies, the “référés” of the Court of Auditors (observations made to ministers and signed by the First President), etc.

Article 58 of the institutional law of August 1, 2001 concerning finance laws modified and clarified the assistance brief of the Court of Auditors to Parliament as regards the monitoring of finance laws and more generally public finances.

The assistance brief given to the Court of Auditors now includes the tabling of several reports :

―  A preliminary report linked to the tabling of the Government report on national economic development and on policies for public finances that the Government must present in the last quarter of the ordinary session before the debate on budgetary policy (article 48 of the institutional law of August 1, 2001) ;

―  A report on the implementation of the finance laws whose contents is broadened to include all associated accounts and which must include an analysis per assignment and per programme of the use of the budgetary credits ;

― A report linked to the tabling of each finance bill on the movements of credits through administrative channels and whose ratification is requested in the said finance bill (in practice this represents decrees authorizing advances).

In addition, the Court of Auditors must certify the legality, correctness and accuracy of the state accounts.

It must reply to the requests for assistance made by the Chairman and the General Rapporteur of the Finance Committees of each of the two assemblies in the carrying out of their assessment and monitoring mission.

The Court of Auditors is also obliged to reply, within a time limit of eight months, to any inquiry made by a Finance Committee concerning the management of agencies or bodies which it monitors.

The Court of Auditors provides similar assistance in the monitoring of social security finance laws. Every year it draws up a report on their implementation and tables it before Parliament. It may also be referred to by the relevant parliamentary standing committees on any question dealing with the implementation of the laws and it may carry out inquiries upon their request on bodies which it monitors (article 2 of the institutional law of July 22, 1996).

The Court of Auditors may also attend the meetings of the Assessment and Monitoring Mission (MEC) set up in 1999 by the Finance Committee of the National Assembly and those of the Assessment and Monitoring Mission for the Social Security Finance Laws (MECSS) established in 2005.