Court of Accounts

The Court of Accounts is headed by the First President.

The function of public prosecution is performed by the Public Prosecutor, who is assisted by the Advocates General. The Court consists of seven chambers among which the Court’s areas of responsibility are distributed.

A Secretariat General, under the authority of the First President, is responsible for administration of the financial courts.

The First President is appointed by a decree of the Council of Ministers. He is a permanently-appointed magistrate.

The First President defines the overall organisation of the Court of Accounts’ work : he allocates the Court’s powers and duties among the seven chambers and approves the Court’s provisional work programme.

He sends the observations made by the chambers to the Ministers and Presidents of the audited entities, delivers requested reports to Parliament, and publishes reports that the Court decides may be published.

Programme - and publication-related decisions are made after consultation with the Presidents and the Public Prosecutor at a meeting of the public reports and programmes committee.

The First President is responsible for general management of the Court of Accounts. He directs the Court’s administrative services and manages the magistrates and staff of the Court and of the Regional Chambers of Accounts. He presides over the High Council of the Court of Accounts and the High Council of the Regional Chambers of Accounts.

Finally, the First President presides over three entities that are associated with but separate from the Court (“associated entities”), namely the Budget and Finance Disciplinary Court, the Central Inquiry Committee on the Cost and Efficiency of Public Services, and the Council of Mandatory Deductions.

The Public Prosecutor at the Court is appointed by a decree of the Council of Ministers. He is assisted in his duties by the First Advocate General and three Advocates General, who are chosen from among the magistrates of the Court of Accounts, as well as by task officers. He has an administrative department.

He is responsible for public prosecution at the Court of Accounts.

The Public Prosecutor ensures that accounts are produced by the public accountants in the specified time periods. He initiates certain judicial proceedings: appeals, de facto management, fines. He expresses an opinion on the Court’s exercise of its optional powers vis-à-vis certain entities.

The Public Prosecutor presents findings, i.e. observations, on the draft reports submitted to him by the chambers. At the request of the Court’s chambers, the Public Prosecutor takes certain follow-up action on audits: communications with the audited administrations and entities, follow-up on payments of fines, referral to the criminal judge.

The Public Prosecutor directs and harmonises the activities of the government commissioners who perform public prosecution functions at the Regional and Territorial Chambers of Accounts.

The Public Prosecutor must be consulted on the Court’s organisation; he participates in and expresses opinions at the meetings of the various bodies, commissions and committees of the Court.

The Public Prosecutor remains in contact on the Court’s behalf with the public prosecutor’s offices and the control institutions and bodies.

He performs public prosecution functions at the Budget and Finance Disciplinary Court.

The Chamber Presidents are appointed by a decree of the Council of Ministers at the Court’s recommendation from among the senior magistrates (conseillers-maîtres) who have served on the Court for more than three years.

The Chamber Presidents of the Court of Accounts :

Each chamber conducts audits of the accounts and management of the ministries covered by its area of responsibility, the national public institutions and entities that come under the authority of these ministries, and the public enterprises in the sector.

It also has authority to audit certain private entities, such as those that receive public funding.

Audits that require collaboration or cooperation among several chambers are conducted by inter-chamber units.

• 1st chamber: Ministry of finance and the budget and all public financial channels;
• 2nd chamber: Ministries in charge of defence, industry, energy, foreign trade, commerce and small business, industrial public enterprises and entities;
• 3rd chamber: Ministries in charge of education, culture and research, youth and sports, public broadcasting sector;
• 4th chamber: Ministries in charge of government sovereign activities (justice, interior, foreign affairs), determination of appeals of the Regional Chambers of Accounts;
• 5th chamber: Ministries in charge of employment, labour, occupational training, housing and social affairs, organisations that receive public funding;
• 6th chamber: Ministries in charge of health and social security, social welfare entities;
• 7th chamber: Ministries in charge of infrastructure, transport and regional planning, agriculture and fishery, the environment and tourism.

A chamber is made up of about 40 permanently-appointed magistrates; rapporteurs and assistants also participate in audits.

Magistrates of the Court of Accounts are recruited either directly upon completion of the Ecole nationale de l’administration or through the so-called “external route” to the ranks of Commissioner of Audit (conseiller référendaire) or senior magistrate (conseiller-maître).

Recognised individuals who have held high-level positions in the central government or at entities audited by the Court of Accounts may be appointed as extraordinary senior magistrates (conseillers-maîtres en service extraordinaire) for a five-year term.

Rapporteurs of the Court of Accounts are civil servants belonging to Category A groups (administrator level or equivalent) who are seconded at the court under an employment status for a maximum term of six years. Part-time rapporteurs are also appointed for a maximum renewable term of two years.

Assistants of the Court of Accounts are civil servants belonging to a category A (attaché level or equivalent) or category B group who are seconded under an employment status for a maximum term of six years. They collaborate on the Court’s audits and inquiries under the responsibility of the magistrates and rapporteurs.

The First President supervises a Secretary General and three Assistant Secretaries General, who are appointed from among the magistrates of the Court; their duties include management of administrative services.

Administrative services, which are either the direct responsibility of the Secretariat General or come under the authority of a Director-General.

• human resources and training department;
• financial affairs and management control department;
• information systems department;
• general services department;
• communication department;
• documentation and historical archives department;
• department of international relations, European affairs and the French-speaking world;
• office for coordination of external audits of international organisations;
• central registry;
• legal affairs office;
• public reports and programmes office

The missions of the Cour des comptes are defined by the Constitution in paragraph 1 of article 47-2:
"The Cour des comptes shall assist Parliament in monitoring Government action. It shall assist Parliament and the Government in monitoring the implementation of Finances Acts and of Social Security Financing Acts as well as in assessing public policies. By means of its public reports, it shall contribute to informing citizens. […]"
As an administrative jurisdiction, the Cour des comptes fulfils these missions in full independence.

Auditing public management

The Cour audits the management of all administrations, all national public or semi-public entities. The Cour may also audit the use of public funds allocated to private entities. This audit concerns the quality and regularity of management, the efficiency and effectiveness of the actions pursued in the eyes of the objectives set by the authorities or the entity considered. This mission therefore refers to performance audit practices, i.e. auditing of the results achieved.

The Cour does not only criticise but presents recommendations. The Cour releases its conclusions by transmitting them to the Ministry or to the controlled entity. These "administrative communications" take several forms: référé from the Premier Président to Ministers, letters from Chamber Presidents, so-called "special" reports on public companies, and communications by the General Prosecutor.

Parliament has the right of access to all of these administrative communications.

The Cour sets its audit program in full independence. Nevertheless, the Finance Commissions of the National Assembly and the Senate may ask the Cour to conduct inquiries on the management of services or entities that fall within its competence. The Finance Commissions and the Commissions in charge of Social Affairs at the National Assembly and at the Senate have the same powers regarding the social security.

Jurisdictional activity

Public accountants are civil servants who shall incur expenditures and collect receipts of the State and of a large number of public entities. They are liable on their own money regarding the regularity of some operations. In this regard, the Cour may question their liability following of a procedure called accounts judgement.

To do so, the Cour examines the accounts and the relevant documents submitted. It verifies whether income has been collected and expenses have been paid in accordance with the rules in force. By delivering a ruling, the Cour grants the accountant discharge when the accounts are regular but places him in financial liability in case of income foregone or expenditure irregularly paid (i.e. repayment order – mise en débet).

During this control, should the Cour notice irregularities committed by managers, it informs the relevant administrative authorities. However the Cour can also, depending the characteristics of the irregularities, communicate them to either:

- The Budget and Finance Disciplinary Court (Cour de discipline budgétaire et financière - CDBF),
- or the relevant administrative authorities (e.g. in fiscal or procurement matters),
- or the judicial authorities.

The Cour des comptes also assesses the accounts kept by any person who, although not entitled as public accountant, became involved in handling administration's or public entity's public funds. This person, declared “de facto” accountant through a judgement, is then subject to the same obligations and responsibilities as a public accountant: namely to file an account and obtain discharge and quitus or being subject to a repayment order (mise en débet).

Lastly, the Cour des comptes is the appeal judge for judgements pronounced by the Regional Chambers of Accounts regarding the accounts of the entities that fall within their competence.

Certification of accounts

The Cour is in charge of certifying the lawfulness (i.e. compliance with rules), the faithfulness (i.e. application of rules in good faith) and the truthfulness (i.e. true to the reality) of the accounts of the State and that of the accounts of national entities depending on Social security general system, the combined accounts of the branches of this system, and of the collection of the Social security general system.

The Cour was entrusted with this mission by two Organic Laws enacted in 2001 for the State and in 2005 for Social security.

The first certification concerned the accounts for fiscal year 2006.

The Cour monitors that Ministers respect the budget appropriations voted by both assemblies. It checks results in terms of expenditures as well as receipts. It contributes to the accurate awareness of the State's financial situation. It proceeds in a similar way for the whole social security system that complies with organisational rules and budgetary principles that are far different from those of the State.

Its obligations towards Parliament are legalised by Article 58 of the Organic Law relative to Finances acts (LOLF) of 1 August, 2001, and by Article 1-VIII in the Organic Law relative to Social Security financing Acts of 2 August, 2005.

Every year, the Cour releases:

- a report relative to the previous fiscal year's results and to the budget management, combined with the filing of the budget review bill (Report on results and budget management);

- a report intended to inform Parliament when the Government carries out movements of appropriations that must be approved by the next forthcoming Finances Act (a report non published by the Cour);

- a report on the implementation of the Social security financing Act;

- a report on the situation of public finance, which contributes to the budget orientation debate held every year before summer.

It also answers questions raised by the relevant commissions

Official recognition of a mission in assessing public policies has been recently introduced into the Constitution in 2008. However assessment has been developed during the past years at the Cour, especially by integrating into its several works the dimension of both results evaluation and policies efficiency.

An on-going discussion shall permit to implement within the Cour the best organisation relevant to fulfilling this mission that has its own goals and which lies on methods that differ from those applied to auditing.

Since 1936, the Cour has made public its most significant observations in an annual report that is solemnly submitted to Parliament and to the President at the same time.

Since 1991, this report is no longer the only publication of the results of the Cour’s works. Every year the Cour releases from four to six thematic reports devoted to complex subjects corresponding to major challenges. The Cour also makes public the reports submitted to Parliament on the State's public finance and on Social security.

The Cour has further been entrusted with the mission of auditing the use of funds raised by calls on public generosity (following national calls for donations). The Cour's competence applies even if the entities that benefit from such funds are private sector entities.

The Cour addresses its observations to the decision making organs within these entities. Their President is legally due to communicate them to the Board and to the General Assembly.

It is however by making public its reports, a possibility that has been granted by law, that the Cour best fulfils its mission to inform donors. Consequently the Cour releases its reports systematically.

The Court is an administrative jurisdiction whose independence from the legislative and executive branches of government is guaranteed by the Constitution (decision of the Constitutional Council 2001-448 DC of 25 July 2001).

For this reason, it has full freedom to establish its audit programme, subject to work requested by Parliament and described in its task of assisting the latter.

The Court establishes a consecutive multi-year programme in which it defines its audit objectives and priorities, as well as the topics common to the work of several chambers.

The Court establishes an annual work programme that defines the nature of the audits to be conducted and the provisional audit schedules.

The Regional Chambers of Accounts may be involved in some of the Court’s work. Consistency among the various audits is then assured by a liaison committee made up of seven Chamber Presidents of the Court and seven Regional and Territorial Chamber of Accounts Presidents.

An audit can concern both the accounts and management, or only one of these aspects.

The Court has the right to conduct any investigations it deems appropriate to fulfil its mission; under penalty of a fine, it may not be denied access to documents related to the audited entity’s accounts or management.

The report prepared by the rapporteur or the audit team is reviewed by a senior magistrate (conseiller-maître) appointed as contre-rapporteur. The report is then presented to the chamber and is the subject of a collegial deliberation.

With regard to judgment of accounts, an interim decision allows the accountant to respond to criticisms aimed at him before the Court renders a final decision.

With regard to management control, the Court publishes its observations in the form of an “administrative communication”. If necessary, it forwards these findings to the audited entity, which can submit observations in writing or be called for a hearing. The chamber then decides on the types of administrative communications that it considers the most appropriate.

Observations are sent to the Minister by the First President. Three months after sending them to the Minister, the Court forwards a copy to Parliament.

The Chamber President’s letter is intended for the Ministry’s directors of central administration, the central government’s decentralised prefects and department managers, and the managers of public institutions.

The Public Prosecutor’s communication is intended for these same authorities when the observations are of a legal nature or related to application of the law.

The special report concerning a public enterprise is sent to the managers of the enterprise, its government auditor and its appropriate Ministers. The report is also sent to Parliament’s finance committees.

The Chamber can also decide to send certain observations to the public reports and programmes committee in order for them to be published in the annual report or in a topic-specific report.