Wednesday, October 9, 2024 at 11:59
Paris – The First President of the Court of Auditors, Zineb El Adaoui, underlined the importance of placing the exercise of jurisdictional powers in the broader context of public action.
Speaking at the closing of an international conference recently organized by the French Court of Auditors, on the occasion of the Constitutive General Assembly of the International Organization of Supreme Public Audit Institutions with jurisdictional competence (JURISAI), under the theme “Auditor and Judge, of the SAIs which make decisions”, Ms. El Adaoui indicated that the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) must, in this regard, seek the right balance between sanction and preservation of the capacities for innovation and decision-making. of risk among managers.
They must also take into account the increasing complexity of decision-making processes among auditees and be diligent regarding the dilution of responsibility and the individualization of sanctions, as well as evolve their approaches to taking into account the circumstances and causes of commission. violations noted, she added.
Ms. El Adaoui also highlighted the challenges that the power to make jurisdictional decisions imposes on SAIs with this attribution, as well as the normative, operational and organizational implications that result from this, recalling the need for rigorous and clear institutional separation. between the functions of auditor and judge, the importance of coordinated strategic planning aimed at creating synergies between jurisdictional and non-jurisdictional functions and the institutionalization of effective coordination and communication channels between audits and jurisdictional work exercised by the SAIs.
The First President of the Court of Auditors emphasized in this context the double challenge of professionalization of the auditor judge faced by the SAIs responsible for control functions and liability regimes, with all that this implies in terms of mechanisms. human capital management, quality assurance and actions so that SAIs protect themselves against the dichotomy of professions and the duality of careers and that they maintain a fair balance between specialization and preservation of the bases of the common identity of their members.
This event, organized in collaboration with the International Foundation for Public Finance (FONDAFIP), brought together eminent personalities, including presidents and senior officials of SAIs, as well as experts, academicians and researchers.
