State Audit Office to be able to audit Saeima's annual financial report, but with limits
On 29 October the Saeima gave final approval to amendments to the State Audit Office Law, allowing the office to audit the parliament's annual financial report. The powers are restricted: no separate audits of spending efficiency are permitted.
Latvia's parliament, the Saeima, voted on Thursday, 29 October, in the final reading to support amendments to the State Audit Office Law. The changes mean the State Audit Office, the country's supreme audit institution, will in future be allowed to audit the annual financial report prepared by the Saeima.
Whether to subject the Saeima to State Audit Office audits has been debated for years, so the decision addresses a long-running question. However, the question has been resolved only in part, because the new powers are quite limited.
What the limits are
The State Audit Office will not be able to carry out separate audits of how effectively the Saeima spends its money. In practice, it will be able to examine the annual financial report, but not separately assess whether parliamentary funds were used efficiently.
The current arrangement
The parliament's annual report is already checked by an independent auditor. The amendments do not cancel that check, but provide that the State Audit Office may also audit the report.
The source report does not say when the amendments will take effect or how the new audit procedure will be organised.
