Cour des Comptes (France)
The Cour des Comptes ("Court of Accounts") is
The Court traces its origins back to the Middle Ages and views itself as succeeding the Court of Auditors of Paris, permanently established in the early 14th century. It was re-established in 1807 by Napoleon.
Its three duties are to conduct financial audits of accounts, conduct
History
During the
The Cour des Comptes was reorganized by
The new building on rue Cambon was designed by architect Constant Moyaux, and after the latter's death in October 1911 by Paul Guadet , on the site of a former convent whose church survives nearby as Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption. It was inaugurated in 1912 by President Armand Fallières. The Cour des Comptes remains located there after more than a century.[2]
Composition
The president (premier président) of the Court of Audit is appointed by Order-in-Council of the
- puisne judges (conseillers-maîtres)
- consider, hear, and adjudicate cases in panels
- deputy judges (conseillers référendaires)
- divided into 2 classes; handle case management
- Auditor-Masters[3] (auditeurs)
- divided into 2 classes; preside over hearings, collect evidence, audit, and report
All judicial officers are graduates from the National Administration Academy (École nationale d'Administration) or recruited from the Office of the Comptroller-General (inspection générale des Finances).
Jurisdiction and duties
Original jurisdiction
The French Court of Audit has original jurisdiction to audit and adjudicate accounts made by public, management, and government accountants. The Court also has authority to audit persons acting but not certified as a public accountant. If an account is found to be correct, then the Court issues a quietus to discharge the accountant. If, however, the account is found to be in error, then a debit order is issued against the defaulter. Either order is subject to appeal in the Court or final appeal at the French Supreme Court.
Audits focus on:
- Government accounting, budgets, and funds
- Public corporations
- National and public institutions, social security organizations, subsidiaries and sub-subsidiaries of public corporations
- Government-funded organizations
- Publicly funded organizations
Appellate jurisdiction
A decision from a lower audit court may be appealed at the main Court of Audit within two months of its being handed down. Afterwards, if the parties are still not satisfied, the Council of State will hear the case on final appeal.
The French Court of Audit puts together its auditing program entirely independently and is vested with very broad powers of review and examination. It publishes and submits an annual audit report to the French President and to Parliament. The report provides a detailed account of the government's poor, or possibly fraudulent, practices and criticizes poor governance and use of public funds. The Court also audits authorizing officers (ordonnateurs) and their expenditures.[4]
Audit procedure
In addition to reporting poor practices, the Court judges the accounting of public financial and budgetary officials, collection agencies, or treasury departments, e.g., treasurers, paymasters-general, tax collectors, certified public accountants, and can
Regional audit courts
The Court of Audit of France stands above and heads 27 regional inferior financial courts referred to in French as Chambres régionales des comptes, or regional audit courts. The Court of Audit acts as the administrative head and court of appeal for the financial stream, hearing appeals from regional courts and issuing rule promulgation orders and administrative directives. Regional audit courts were established in 1982 to help unburden the main Court of Audit of its heavy caseload. Since their creation, they have original jurisdiction for most local, county, and regional accounting matters in continental France and its overseas dependencies. This means they audit accounts as well as public institutions to check for fraud, embezzlement, or misappropriation. In case of budgetary discrepancies, the Court can ask the local prefect to intervene and oversee the handling of public funds until budget problems have been corrected.[6]
Each court is divided into divisions and includes a judge-in-Charge - who is also either a puisne or deputy judge at the main Court of Audit - and two associate judges. Judges have security of tenure and some also serve as Commissioners-in-Council with prosecutorial duties under the Office of the Prosecutor at the Court of Audit of France. The regional courts focus on:
- budgetary audits and assessment of local public institutions' budget use and management
- audits of institutions and agencies in a given regional jurisdiction, namely: public institutions (schools, public housing, hospitals) or groups funded or aided by local governments or public institutions (unions or trade associations)
- efficiency evaluations of account management
Accounts found to be in error are entered into debit and accounts in default or fictitious are referred to the local prefect.
Accounts for towns of fewer than 3,500 inhabitants and receipts totalling less than 750,000 euros are automatically referred to the local county or regional treasurer. A regional audit court's ruling may be appealed in the same court or to the Court of Audit of France.[7]
Individuals
First Presidents
- François Barbé-Marbois (1807–1834, with brief interruption in 1815)
- Jean-Baptiste Collin de Sussy (March–June 1815)
- Félix Barthe (1834–1837 and 1839–1863)
- Joseph Jérôme Siméon (1837–1839)
- Ernest de Royer (1863–1877)
- Jules-Joseph Petitjean (1877–1880)
- Paul Louis Gabriel Bethmont (1880–1889)
- Gustave Humbert (1890–1894)
- Ernest Boulanger (1894–1900)
- Henri Labeyrie (1900–1901)
- Félix Renaud (1901–1907)
- Charles François Laurent (1907–1909)
- Alfred Hérault (1909–1912)
- Georges Payelle (1912–1933)
- Maurice Bloch (1933)
- Maurice Chotard (1933–1936)
- Pierre Guinand (1936–1937)
- Émile Labeyrie (1937–1940)
- Jean-Marcel Drouineau (1940–1946)
- Édouard Le Conte (1946–1948)
- Pierre Brin (1948–1952)
- Édouard Parent (1952–1955)
- Roger Léonard (1955–1959)
- André d'Estresse de Lanzac de Laborie (1959–1970)
- Lucien Paye (1970–1972)
- Désiré Arnaud (1972–1978)
- Bernard Beck (1978–1982)
- Jean Rosenwald (1982–1983)
- André Chandernagor (1983–1990)
- Pierre Arpaillange (1990–1993)
- Pierre Joxe (1993–2001)
- François Logerot (2001–2004)
- Philippe Séguin (2004–2010)
- Didier Migaud (2010–2020)
- Pierre Moscovici (2020–present)
Other notable members or former members
- Bernard Attali
- François d'Aubert
- David Azéma
- Dominique Baert
- Julien Bargeton
- Claire Bazy-Malaurie
- Jean-Louis Bourlanges
- Jean Castex
- Jacques Chirac
- Charles de Courson
- Marie-France Garaud
- Jean de Gaulle
- Brigitte Girardin
- Henri Guaino
- François Hollande
- Alain Lamassoure
- Alain Lambert
- Dominique Lefebvre
- Alain Le Roy
- Bernadette Malgorn
- Juliette Méadel
- Étienne Pflimlin
- Bruno Racine
- Rémy Rioux
- Jean-Pierre Soisson
- Emmanuelle Wargon
See also
- INTOSAI
- INCOSAI
- EUROSAI
- Council of State (France)
- European Court of Auditors
- Court of Auditors (France)
Notes
- ^ Jean-Michel Leniaud (2021). "Transcription de la vidéo de présentation de l'ouvrage La Cour des comptes au palais d'Orsay - Chronique d'un drame de pierre". Cour des Comptes.
- ^ "La Cour des Comptes, le palais Cambon". Paris Promeneurs. 10 July 2014.
- ^ These are not just public financial auditors but also court officers, what are generally known as masters, auditors (in Chancery courts), and commissioners, and in charge of case management, document handling and filing, and presiding over pre-trial or post-trial hearings in addition to auditing agencies and offices.
- ^ Alain Héraud and André Maurin, Institutions judiciaires, 4th edn. (Paris: Dalloz, 2002), 82-3.
- ^ Véronique Le Marchand and Frédéric Touboul, eds., Mini-guide de la justice (Toulouse, France: Milan, 2003), 48.
- ^ Le Marchand and Touboul, op. cit., 49.
- ^ Héraud and Maurin, op. cit., 84.