Французский Счетный суд: история и функции

The Cour des Comptes ("Court of Accounts") is France's supreme audit institution, under French law an administrative court. As such, it is independent from the legislative and executive branches of the French Government. However, the 1946 and 1958 French constitutions made it the Court's duty to assist the Cabinet and Parliament in regulating government spending. The Court thus combines functions of a court of exchequer, comptroller general's office, and auditor general's office in common law countries. It is also a Grand Corps of the French State and mainly recruits among the best ranked students graduating from the Ecole nationale d'administration. 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 good governance audits, and provide information and advice to the French Parliament and Administration. The Court verifies the good form of accounting and the proper handling of public money. Its mandate covers most public institutions and some private institutions, including the central Government, national public corporations, social security agencies (since 1950), and other public services (since 1976).

During the Ancien Régime, the Court of Auditors was located in the French monarchy's ancestral Palais de la Cité, between the Sainte Chapelle and the Conciergerie. In 1740 it moved to a new building in the same complex, designed by Jacques Gabriel, which is no longer extant. The Cour des Comptes was reorganized by Napoleon through the Law of September 16, 1807. In 1842, it eventually moved away from the Île de la Cité into the Palais d'Orsay. In May 1871 at the end of the Paris Commune, the Palais d'Orsay was entirely destroyed by fire and the Cour des Comptes was temporarily relocated in the Palais Royal. Its relocation in the [[Pavillon de Marsan of the Louvre Palace was considered but only some of its archives were moved there, and in 1897 the Marsan Wing was attributed to what is now the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Instead, it was decided to build a new office specifically for the Cour des Comptes. The new building on rue Cambon was designed by architect Constant Moyaux, and after the latter's death in October 1911 by fr, 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.

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.

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 fine them for late reporting. In such cases, the Court fines public accounting officials for the exact amount of any sum of money that, due to an error on their part, they have unduly paid or failed to recover on behalf of the State. A debet (débet), from Latin "he owes" and not limited in amount, is entered against a defaulting person, and the defaulter becomes the State's debtor. Public and government accountants must therefore have performance liability insurance. Often, however, the Ministry of Finance alleviates a defaulter by granting an abatement of his arrears as the full amount is likely too much to ever pay out of pocket. If an account is audited and found not to be in default, then the Court issues a quietus (arrêt de quitus or arrêt de décharge) acquitting and discharging the official and settling the account.