The Court of Auditors

The Court of Auditors was created by law n° 68-8 dated 8 March 1968 organizing the Court of Auditors as amended and completed by law n° 70-17 dated 20 April 1970, organic law n° 90-82 dated 29 October 1990, organic law n° 2001-75 dated 17 July 2001 and by organic law n°2008-3 dated 29 January 2008 in form of an independent Higher Institution of Control in charge of ensuring the respect of the law and seeing to the protection of the public funds and to their proper use.

La Cour des Comptes est présidée par un Premier Président qui assure la direction générale des services et la coordination entre ses différentes formations, assisté à cet effet par un Secrétariat Général. La Cour comprend diverses formations juridictionnelles dont notamment l’assemblée plénière, six Chambres centrales et quatre Chambres régionales. Il est placé auprès de la Cour un Ministère Public.

The Court of Auditors is chaired by a First President who ensures the general management of the departments and the coordination between its different formations, assisted for this purpose by a Secretariat General. The Court includes various jurisdictional formations among which notably the plenary assembly, six central chambers and four regional chambers. It is placed by the Court a Public prosecutor.

Attribution de la cour :

La Cour exerce deux types de contrôle :

Un contrôle juridictionnel :
La Cour règle et apure les comptes soumis à sa juridiction; elle recourt, pour ce faire, à des procédures offrant, tant aux comptables qu'à l'administration, les garanties d'usage aux justiciables des diverses juridictions. La Cour établit, par ses arrêts, que les comptables sont quittes ou en avance et prononce, selon le cas, leur décharge ou leur mise en débet et les condamne alors aux paiements de leur dû au Trésor, sauf remise gracieuse ordonnée par décret. Les arrêts de la Cour sont susceptibles de recours en appel et de pourvoi en cassation.

Le comptable public ne peut être déclaré responsable du fait de sa gestion par un arrêt de la Cour des Comptes ou par arrêté du Ministre des Finances, après l'écoulement de dix ans à partir du 1er janvier de l'année suivant celle de la production du compte.
The central chambers, whose number is fixed by decree, exercise the competences of the Court, acting as entities subjected to its jurisdiction, its control or its appreciation, as distributed between them by the First President, the beforehand consulted plenary assembly. The territorial competences of the regional chambers depending on the Court, are fixed by decree and are exercised with regard to the regional and local administrative entities, of the public establishments and enterprises, as well as all the institutions, whatever is the denomination, in which the State, the local collectivities or the public establishments and enterprises hold a participation in the capital and whose registered office or pole of activity is located in the territorial perimeter of the regional chamber.
Attributions of the Court:
The Court exercises two types of control:

The Court rules on and audits the accounts subjected to its jurisdiction; it resorts, with this intention, to the procedures offering, as well to the accountants as to the administration, the custom guarantees to those to be tried of the various jurisdictions. The Court establishes, by its judgments, that the accountants are free or in advance and pronounces, according to the case, their discharge or their debit balance and then condemns them to the payment of their due to the Treasury, except gracious remittance ordered by decree. The judgments of the Court may be appealed and appealed in cassation. The public accountant may not be declared responsible for a fact of his management by a judgment of the Court of Auditors or order of the Minister of Finance, after the running of ten year as from January1 of the year following that of the account production.

A control and an evaluation of management The Court carries out the examination of the accounts and the management of the State, local collectivities, public establishments with administrative and non administrative nature, public enterprises and all entities; whatever is the denomination, with capital of which the State, the local collectivities or public establishments and enterprises take part directly or indirectly. The Court has for this purpose a broad power of appreciation and evaluation of the works of the managers of public funds. Likewise, the Court appreciates the results of the economic and financial aid, which the parties previously mentioned grant, in whatever form is, to the private associations, mutual insurance institutions, entities or bodies, whatever is the denomination, notably in form of tax exemptions, guarantees, monopoly or subsidies.
Other attributions :
Independently of the role which is entrusted to it as a trustee of the goods, the Court has the possibility of proceeding, alone or in partnership with other national, similar foreign or international bodies of control, to the realization of missions of control of the accounts and this, in accordance with procedures fixed by the conventions concluded on the matter.

The Court takes part, in addition, in the works of institutions or commissions of Audit or in advisory basis, in the Constitutional Council, the High Committee of Administrative and Financial Control, the Public Procurements Higher Commission, the Committee of follow-up of Public Procurements, the Council of Financial Market, the Competition Council, the Telecommunications National Authority, the Control Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, the Control Commission of the Chamber of Advisors, the Higher Council of Civil Service, the Higher Council of Legislation, the Higher Council of Accounting, the Committee of Follow-up, Elaboration, Implementation and Evaluation of State Budget and the Control Commission of Information Systems and Administration.

Lawful references:

The organization and operation of the Court of Auditors are currently governed by:

Article 69 of the Constitution of the Republic of Tunisia of 01 June 1959, notably amended by the Constitutional law n° 97-65 dated 27 October 1997 and by the constitutional law n°2002-51 dated 01 June 2002.
The law n° 68-8 dated 8 March 1968 organizing the Court of Auditors, amended and completed by law n° 70-17 dated 20 April 1970, law n° 90-82 dated 29 October 1990, organic law n°2001-75 dated 17 July 2001, and organic law n° 2008-3 dated 29 January 2008.
The decree-law n°70-6 dated 26 September 1970 ratified by law 70-46 dated 20 November 1970, relating to the status of the members of the Court of Auditors as amended and completed by decree-law n°74-18 dated 24 October 1974, by law n°81-3 dated 23 January 1981, law n°86-76 dated 28 July 1986, organic law n°90-83 dated 29 October 1990 and by organic law n°2001-77 dated 24 July 2001.
Extract of laws:
- article 16 of organic law n° 88-32 dated 03 May 1988 organizing the political parties.
- article 9 of organic law n° 2004-48 dated 14 June 2004 organizing the activity of the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Advisors and their mutual relations.
- article 18 of law n° 72-87 dated 27 December 1972, relating to finance law for the year 1973.
- Article 4 of law n° 87-17 dated 10 April 1987, relating to the declaration on the honor of the goods of the members of the Government and certain categories of public agents.
- Article 6 of law n° 97-48 dated 21 July 1997, relating to the public financing of the political parties.
decree n° 71-218 dated 29 May 1971, relating to the operation of the Court of Auditors;
decree n° 71-219 dated 29 May 1971, appointing the accountants whose accounts are subjected to the jurisdiction of the Court of Auditors, as amended by decree n° 86-820 dated 22 August 1986;
decree n° 92-1071 dated 1 June 1992, organizing the Secretariat General of the Court of Auditors.
decree n° 2001-2303 dated 2 October 2001, fixing the number of the government commissioners by the Court of Auditors.
Le décret n° 2001-2304 du 2 octobre 2001, portant création d’une Chambre Régionale relevant de la Cour des Comptes à Sousse et fixant son cadre territorial.
decree n° 2003-2635 dated 23 October 2001, creating a Regional Chamber of the Court of Auditors in Sfax and fixing its territorial framework.
decree n° 2005-1594 dated 23 May 2005, creating a Regional Chamber of the Court of Auditors in Gafsa and fixing its territorial framework.
decree n° 2007-2722 dated 31 October 2007 creating a Regional Chamber of the Court of Auditors in Jendouba and fixing its territorial framework.
decree n° 2008-3174 dated 6 October 2008 fixing of the number of the central chambers and the number of the sections in the chambers of the Court of Auditors.