Chương II : Địa vị pháp lý, chức năng, nhiệm vụ, quyền hạn và tổ chức của kiểm toán nhà nước

Chapter II

LEGAL POSITION, MANDATES, TASKS, POWERS AND ORGANISATION OF THE STATE AUDIT

SECTION 1. LEGAL POSITION, MANDATES, TASKS, POWERS OF THE STATE AUDIT

Article 13. Legal position of the State Audit

The State Audit shall be the agency specializing in the field of checking the State finance established by the National Assembly, performing independently and subject only to law.

Article 14. Mandates of the State Audit

The State Audit shall have mandates for auditing financial statements, the legal compliance and the performance of every agency, institutions managing and using the State budget, funds and assets.

Article 15. Tasks of the State Audit

1. to decide its annual audit plan and report to the National Assembly and the Government prior to the implementation thereof;

2. to organise the implementation of annual audit plan and audit tasks as may be requested by the National Assembly, the National Assembly Standing Committee, the Government and the Prime Minister;

3. to consider and make decisions on audits at the request of the People's Council’s Standing Boards, and of the People's Committees of the provinces and the centrally-run cities.

4. to submit opinions of the State Auditor General to the National Assembly for reviewing and determining on the State budget estimates, and deciding on methods for the allocation of the central budget and on the national important projects and works, and for ratifying the State budget finalization;

5. to join hands with the Economic and Budgetary Committee of the National Assembly and with other agencies of the National Assembly and the Government in considering and reviewing reports on the State budget estimates, methods of allocating the central budget, ways of adjusting the State budget estimates, methods of arranging funds for the national important projects and programmes decided by the National Assembly, and the State budget finalisation;

6. to work with the National Assembly's Economic and Budgetary Committee, as may be requested, in oversight upon the implementation of laws and resolutions of the National Assembly, resolutions of the National Assembly Standing Committee in the field of finance and banking, and on the supervision of the execution of the State budget and financial policies.

7. to collaborate with the agencies of the Government and the National Assembly, as may be requested, in the preparation and appraisal of law and ordinance projects;

8. to report annually audit results and results of implementing the audit recommendations to the National Assembly, the National Assembly Standing Committee; To send the audit reports to the Council of Nationalities and other Committees of the National Assembly, the State President, the Government, the Prime Minister; And, to provide audit results to the Ministry of Finance, the People's Councils of the audited localities and other agencies as stipulated by law;

9. to organise for the publicity of the reports of audit results under the provisions in Article 58 and 59 of this Law, and other regulations of the legislations on the State finance and budget;

10. to transfer audit profiles to investigation agencies and other competent agencies of the State for examining and dealing with cases having signs of legal violations committed by the organisations and individuals detected through the audit activities;

11. to maintain audit profiles; to keep secret accounting documents, data and information on operation of the audited entities according to the provisions of law;

12. to perform international cooperation in the field of state audit;

13. to organise and manage scientific researches, work of training, fostering and developing human resources of the State Audit;

14. to organise examinations and to issue the State auditor certificate;

15. to direct and instruct on internal audit profession and operation, and on the use of internal audit results of agencies and institutions as provided for in Article 6 of this Law;

16. To carry out other tasks as regulated by law.

Article 16. Powers of the State Audit

1. to request audited entities and relevant organizations and individuals to provide fully and on time information and documents necessary for audit work; to ask functional organs for their cooperation to carry out the assigned tasks; to ask the State organs, mass associations, social organizations and citizens for assistance and creation of favorable conditions to do audit tasks;

2. to request the audited entities to implement the conclusions and recommendations of the State Audit concerning the irregularities in their financial statements and on acts of violating the legal compliance; and the recommendations on carrying out corrective actions to weaknesses in operations of the entity detected and recommended by the State Audit;

3. to check the audited entities in their implementing conclusions and recommendation of the State Audit;

4. to recommend to the competent State organs for requesting the audited entities to implement the audit conclusions and recommendations on cases of irregularities in the financial statements and other wrongdoings against the legal compliance; to request for the resolution according to the provisions of law of case of failing to implement or to implement insufficiently and unduly the conclusions and recommendation of the State Audit;

5. to recommend the competent State organs for their treatment towards acts of violating law committed by the organisations and individuals explicitly highlighted through the audit activities;

6. to ask competent organs to treat, within their scope of competence, organisations and individuals whose actions impede the audit work of the State Audit or who provide distorted, untruthful information and documents to the state auditors and the State Audit;

7. to refer for professional assessment where necessary;

8. to authorize or to hire an audit firm to carry out the audit of organs, organizations enjoying the State budget, funds and property; the State Audit shall bear responsible for the correctness of data, documents and audit conclusions issued by the firm;

9. to recommend to the National Assembly, the National Assembly Standing Committee, the Government, the Prime Minister and other State management agencies for amending and supplementing regimes, policies and laws to turn them into appropriate.

SECTION 2. STATE AUDITOR GENERAL AND STATE DEPUTY AUDITOR GENERAL

Article 17. The State Auditor General

1. The State Auditor General shall be the head of the State Audit and responsible for all the organisations and activities of the State Audit to the National Assembly, the National Assembly Standing Committee and the Government.

2. The State Auditor General shall be elected, dismissed and removed from office by the National Assembly on the proposal of its Standing Committee after discussion and agreement with the Prime Minister; criteria for choosing a State Auditor General shall be regulated by the National Assembly Standing Committee.

3. The tenure of the State Auditor General shall be seven years, being eligible for re-election of not more than two terms.

4. The salary and other regimes for the State Auditor General shall be equal to those of the chairmen of the Committees of the National Assembly and shall be determined by the National Assembly Standing Committee on the basis of the remuneration regimes and policies of the State.

Article 18. Responsibilities of the State Auditor General

1. to lead and direct the State Audit to exercise its tasks and powers provided in Articles 15 and Article 16 of this Law;

2. to present reports on audit of the State budget settlement reports to the National Assembly; to bring the annual audit report of the State Audit before the National Assembly when requested so by the National Assembly;

3. to take responsibility subjected to law for all contents of the audit reports of the State Audit;

4. to decide upon and to organise the implementation of specific measures to promote disciplines and rules within state audit operations; to combat corruption, waste and any signs of bureaucratic, high-handed and authoritarian behaviors of the State Audit's officials and staffs;

5. to set rules and regulations on functions, duties, powers and organizational structure of units subordinated to the State Audit;

6. to submit to the National Assembly's Standing Committee for decision the workforce, the establishment, merging and dissolution of the units under the organisational frame of the State Audit;

7. to exercise measures to ensure independence of the audit operation of the State Audit;

8. to review and deal with complaints about auditing reports;

9. to perform any other tasks as so regulated by law.

Article 19. Powers of the State Auditor General

1. to issue audit decisions;

2. to attend the plenary sessions of the National Assembly; the meeting sessions of the National Assembly's Standing Committee and of the Government on relevant issues;

3. to make recommendations to ministers, heads of the government-affiliated agencies, other organs at the central level, chairmen/women of the People's Committees of the provinces and the centrally-governed cities, leaders of the immediate higher level of the audited entities in order to have appropriate treatments within their scope of competence towards the organisations, individuals who have committed acts of impeding the audit activities of the State Audit, of providing false information and incorrect documents to the State Audit, failing to implement or to implement insufficiently the conclusions and recommendations of the State Audit. In case that the conclusions and recommendations of the State Audit are not addressed or addressed unsatisfactorily, the State Auditor General shall petition the competent persons for consideration and treatment thereto according to the provisions of law.

4. to determine on auditing the activities under the request of the entities as provided for in Section 12, Article 63 of this law and of other agencies not present in the annual audit plan of the State Audit.

5. to determine on sealing up the documents and on checking the accounts of the audited entities or of individuals concerned under the request of the leaders of the audit teams.

6. to issue, instruct, review and organise the implementation of the state audit standards; to promulgate decisions, directives and working policies; to set forth auditing professional statutes, processes and methodology to apply for the organisation and operation of state audit; and to provide for specific regulations on audit procedures and profiles.

Article 20. State Deputy Auditor General

1. The State Deputy Auditor General shall be assistant to the State Auditor General and be assigned by the State Auditor General to direct some working domains and shall be accountable to the State Auditor General for the assigned tasks. When the State Auditor General is absent, one State Deputy Auditor General shall be authorized by the State Auditor General to lead the State Audit.

2. The State Deputy Auditor General shall be appointed, relieved from duty or dismissed by the National Assembly's Standing Committee on the proposal of the State Auditor General.

3. The tenure of the State Deputy Auditor General shall be seven years.

4. The salary and other regimes for the State Deputy Auditor General shall be equal to those of the vice chairmen of the Committees of the National Assembly and shall be determined by the National Assembly's Standing Committee on the basis of the remuneration regimes and policies of the State.

SECTION 3. ORGANISATION OF THE STATE AUDIT

Article 21. Organisational system of the State Audit

1. The State Audit shall be organised and managed in a centralized and unified manner which shall be comprised of the governing organs, the specialized State Audit units, the regional State Audit offices and the non-business units.

2. The National Assembly's Standing Committee shall prescribe in details the organisational structure of the State Audit.

The State Auditor General shall regulate in details on the functions, tasks, powers and organisational framework of the State Audit-affiliated integral units.

 The number of specialised State Audit units and regional State Audit offices at different periods of time shall be defined on the basis of duty requirements being submitted by the State Auditor General to the National Assembly's Standing Committee for decision.

Article 22. Specialised State Audit units

The specialised State Audit units shall be ones directly affiliated to the State Audit and shall perform specialised audits of agencies, organisations at the central level.

Article 23. Regional State Audit offices

The regional State Audit offices shall be directly under the State Audit and shall perform audit of agencies, organisations at the local levels within their geographical area, and to discharge any other audit duties assigned by the State Auditor General. The regional State Audit offices shall have legal person status as well as their own seals, accounts and offices.

Article 24. Chief Auditor and Deputy Chief Auditor

The Chief Auditors shall be heads of the specialised State Audit units and the regional State Audit offices. Being assistant to the Chief Auditors shall be the Deputy Chief Auditors. The Chief and Deputy Chief Auditors shall be appointed, removed from duty and dismissed by the State Auditor General.

SECTION 4. STATE AUDIT COUNCIL

Article 25. Establishment and dissolution of the State Audit Council

1. The State Auditor General shall set up the State Audit Council to provide him advice in his reviewing important audit reports or re-evaluating the audit reports as so requested by the audited entities, and to assist him to handle any petitions pertaining to the audit reports.

2. The State Auditor General shall decide on the establishment of the State Audit Council, and on its membership and working norms. The State Audit Council shall be chaired by one State Deputy Auditor General. Basing on each specific case, the State Auditor General shall be entitled to inviting experts from the outside to join the Council. In such cases that the audit objects are connected with the State secrets and national security, the State Auditor General shall then act as the chairman of the Council.

3. The State Audit Council shall be automatically dissolved by itself after ending its tasks.

Article 26. Working principles of the State Audit Council

The working principles of the State Audit Council shall be of collective discussions and of vote in favour of the majority, opinions of the minority shall be reserved and reported to the State Auditor General. Every opinion of the State Audit Council members shall be written down in the minutes of the Council. The minutes and other documents of the State Audit Council shall be kept in custody and maintained in the audit profiles of the State Audit.