Question 122

Does the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) have the discretion in law to undertake those audits it may wish to?
 * a. The SAI has full discretion to decide which audits it wishes to undertake.
 * b. The SAI has significant discretion, but faces some limitations.
 * c. The SAI has some discretion, but faces considerable limitations.
 * d. The SAI has no discretion to decide which audits it wishes to undertake.
 * e. Not applicable/other (please comment).

OBS Guidelines
Question 122 explores the scope of the investigative powers of the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) as prescribed in law.

[Question 97 asks which of the three types of audits — financial, compliance, and performance — the SAI conducts. This question asks if the SAI is constrained by law (rather than by a lack of capacity or an inadequate budget) from undertaking any form of audit or investigating irregularities in any program or activity.

There are numerous examples of limitations. For instance, some SAIs are not permitted by their legal mandate to audit joint ventures or other public-private arrangements. Others are only allowed to undertake financial audits, precluded from conducting performance or value-for-money audits. The SAIs in some countries do not have the legal mandate to review arrangements involving oil or stabilization funds, or other types of special or extra- budgetary funds. The SAI may also not have the ability to audit commercial projects involving the public and private sector.

To answer “a,” the SAI must have full discretion in law to decide which audits to undertake. Answer “b” applies if some limitations exist, but the SAI enjoys significant discretion to undertake those audits it wishes to. Answer “c” applies if the SAI has some discretion, but significant legal limitations exist. Answer “d” applies if the SAI has no power at all to choose which audits to undertake.

Consulting the Lima Declaration of Guidelines on Auditing Precepts may be useful in answering this question as its provisions serve to define the appropriate scope of a SAI’s legal mandate and jurisdiction.

External references

 * Lima Declaration of Guidelines on Auditing Precepts