The Albanian Supreme Audit Institution has its beginning not far in time.
The historical circumstances of development, wars and foreign invasions, for many centuries did not allow the creation of a nation state. For almost five centuries of Turkish occupation, laws and rules were imposed in Albania that were imposed by the interests of the empire.
The incessant struggles of the Albanian people for freedom and national independence were crowned only on November 28, 1912. This year, Albania was able to form the first Albanian state with national borders, which, although truncated, were recognized by the great powers. The first democratic government set up its own legal institutions and state administration. But, before the state was consolidated, the Balkan and world wars suspended the consolidation of the institutions of the Albanian state.
In 1925, the National Assembly approved the first Basic Statute of the Albanian State (Constitution). For its time, this document was a major historical achievement that sanctioned the key features of the state and its legitimate institutions.
This constitution, among others, defines the institution in charge of state control of public finances. It was the Chamber of Deputies.
The Chamber of Deputies had the attributes of an institution that had the right and duty to control the government, to protect the general interests of the country. The Chamber of Deputies set up commissions of inquiry to study issues and facts related to these interests. Commissions conducted investigations, sought explanations from public authorities, state-owned companies, or private individuals, and had exclusive oversight rights over official acts to verify their compliance with public interests. These attributes contained a legal authority sanctioning parliament’s control over the government.
In the years 1928-1939, the country is run by an institutional monarchy.
In the Basic Statute of the Kingdom of Albania, state control suffers perfection in form and content. In this Statute (Constitution), the state finances are controlled by the Controlling Council which takes on the attributes of an independent body.
The Audit Council of the Parliament consisted of a chairman and two elected members. A special law determined the manner of organization and exercise of duty. The object of the activity of the Controlling Council was the preventive and consensual control of the revenues and expenditures of the state. The law determined the manner of reporting to Parliament and its relations with this body, with the government and the king. The law also defines the modalities of appointment and the constitutional mandate of 7 years, which ensured the functional inviolability and legal protection of the members of this Council.
Organized in the form of the Controlling Council, state control takes on the attributes of an independent institution that conforms to the modern concepts of its organization.
In the years 1939-1944, Albania was occupied by the forces of the Nazi-fascist coalition of Italy and Germany. As a result, all activity of this supreme institution is suspended, as well as all other state institutions.
Albania as part of the anti-fascist coalition was liberated from occupation on November 29, 1944. After this period until the end of 1991, the country was ruled by a communist regime.
In 1945, the Antifascist National Liberation Council, which had the attributes of a Parliament, institutionalized state control through a Controlling Council.
The purpose of this Council was economic and financial control throughout the country. The main task of the Controlling Council was: preventive and consultative control of state expenditures, oversight of state revenues and that of the activity of officials who administered state money and materials.
The Controlling Council had the right to give judgments and assessments on the administrative responsibilities of state officials and on the final accounts of the state. He was granted the right to request from state institutions data and information he deemed necessary. This Council reported, every 3 months, to the Antifascist Council on how to implement the state budget. Legal provisions defined this control body independent of the government.
In August 1946, a complete reorganization of the control bodies took place, both in form and content. By a special law of the People’s Assembly, the State Control Commission is established.
Like the entire state structure, the establishment of the State Control Commission was intended to adapt the system of organization, functions and tasks of this institution to the needs for the consolidation of the communist system in the economy. The state had begun the path of socializing private property. The country’s economy is run on the principle of absolute centralism.
The State Audit Commission is not an independent body of parliament, but part of the structure of the Government. He acts collegially, and the chairman was a member of the Government. The Commission exercised its duties through inspectors general. The organization of control was carried out on the basis of regions (Prefecture).
The functions, object, subordination, organization and competencies of the General State Audit completely change in the organic law. The main objective of this institution was to: assist and supervise the activity of the state administration, of the institutes and enterprises that depend on them, to supervise the implementation of laws, decisions, regulations and instructions of the highest bodies of state power from subordinate levels. of them. The State Audit Commission had the right to investigate the internal organization of state institutions, reports and financial books, private activities; suspend any illegal action or irregular spending. This institution could initiate disciplinary and indictment prosecutions against civil servants who had committed illegal acts. So, in the conditions of a totalitarian system, the State Control, as part of this social organism, was endowed with repressive powers.
In January 1950, with some changes in the organic law, the scope of the control object was limited to this institution. Its objective was only to control the accounts and expenditures of the Government and to implement its decisions. The basic task is to determine the preventive (preliminary) and final control over the state accounts in all economic, financial and production units; preservation of monetary and material values of the state in enterprises, agricultural cooperatives, state and social institutions. When requested by the government or on its own initiative, the State Audit Commission conducted its own financial audits.
Even in this period, the institution remains subordinate to the Government and reports to it. In the internal organization, the control links in the regions are abolished and the activity is concentrated entirely in the center. Restrictions are placed on the right to impose disciplinary measures on civil servants. This right is given only in the form of recommendations, and the state bodies of the denomination were obliged to inform about their implementation.
In 1952 and 1959, depending on the political situation and socio-economic situation of the country, the legal provisions for State Control underwent partial changes. By special decrees, some restrictions were made on the scope of activity or on decision-making powers.
The 60s are experienced in Albania with aggravated political, economic and social situation. The political struggle within the leadership of the Party and the State, the total isolation of the country from the democratic world, the aggravation of the economic situation, force the communist regime to apply drastic reforms that restricted fundamental human rights and freedoms and strengthened the dictatorship.
In 1966 the State Control Commission was abolished. This body is reorganized in the form of a State Inspection. This form he maintained until 1987.
As a main feature, this organization had a deep reduction of the institutional position, the object of activity and the competencies of state control. The State Inspectorate takes on the features of an office within the government administration, acting on its own behalf and reporting only to the government.
The object of the State Inspection was: control over the implementation of laws and bylaws in the field of financial administration. This body also exercised control over special tasks assigned to it by the Government. The task of exercising direct audit control over state entities was limited. In the meantime, he was given the task of supervising the activity of the financial control bodies and the right to request from them, when he deemed it necessary to carry out audits in specific entities.
The State Inspectorate had the right: to suspend illegal acts, to request disciplinary measures or compensation according to the provisions of the Labor Code, for civil servants and other employees of the state administration or economic units. For agricultural cooperatives the measures were recommended, as they as social organizations operated with a special statute.
In 1987, with a special decree, the State Control Commission was re-established, almost with the same organization, objectives and competencies that this body had in previous years. This institution continued to operate until the end of 1991.
The overthrow of the communist dictatorship and the establishment of political pluralism in Albania at the end of 1991 was accompanied by profound political and democratic reforms. These reforms also conditioned a more adequate review and treatment of the conception, level of organization, content and functions of general state control.
Approximation with international standards in the field of public administration required the establishment of institutions according to the principles and schemes of Western democracies. Institutional reform in the field of state control was also of this character.
In 1992, a special law established the supreme institution of state control. This institution was renamed the State Audit Office.
The State Audit Office takes on the attributes of an independent body from the government. The management of the institution was carried out collegially by a chairman consisting of three members (chairman and two vice-chairmen) who were appointed by Parliament. Their term was set for 7 years. The object of activity generally responded to contemporary requirements and control standards. The main object was: organizing, directing and carrying out control over the implementation of the state budget, sources of income, administration of public property and the use of material and financial funds of the state. The State Control Service had the task of controlling legality, regularity , profitability, profitability, economy and efficiency of economic-financial activity of central and local state bodies; Lending relations between the Bank of Albania and the state budget; the legality of the privatization of state property; implementation of legislation on revenue collection from customs and tax authorities, useful use of public funds, etc. In the field of control, in addition to overseeing internal financial control, the institution had the task of conducting financial audits itself, in all administrative units of the state, in the center and rural areas, as well as in state-owned enterprises.
The State Audit Office had the right to request from the audited entities the necessary documentation and any other financial information. For the problems arising during the control, he submitted a complaint to the state bodies for the elimination of defects and asked them to take disciplinary measures. When during the control financial damages or offenses that constituted a criminal offense were proven, he had the right to file a lawsuit against the responsible persons directly in Court.
Although the law on the State Audit Office was a good step towards international auditing standards, there were still shortcomings in the level of organization and the degree of independence. His coverage of internal financial control throughout the country, drew attention from the basic problems of control over the state budget, paralyzed the internal control of management and created artificial loads in the activity of this institution.
The institution, although legally considered an independent body, at this time could not get out of the shell of political influence, as its Chairman was part of the governing structures of the ruling party and implemented its political line.
On December 23, 1997, in order to perfect the legal and institutional basis of the State Control, with the help of SIGMAs, the law no. 8270, dated 23.10.1997 “On the Supreme State Control”. This law, after the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Albania, in November 1998, was enriched in April 2000 with several additional amendments. The institution is called ” Albanian Supreme Audit Institution ” (ALSAI).
Significant changes were made to this law and in its entirety it adheres to the principles of INTOSAI international standards of control.
ALSAI is an independent institution of external control in the Republic of Albania. The constitutional position of ALSAI is defined in law no. 8417, dated 21.10.1998 “Constitution of the Republic of Albania”, part 14, articles 162-165.
The functions and duties of ALSAI are explicitly defined in the Constitution and in the organic law no. 8270, dated 23.12.1997, supplemented with relevant amendments by law no. 8599, dated 01.6.2000 “Albanian Supreme Audit Institution “.
In organizing the management, ALSAI refers to the rules and internal organic guidelines that act in accordance with the Albanian legislation. The basic principles of management (organization) are derived from the Lima Declaration, INTOSAI control standards and European implementation guidelines. ALSAI is a member of INTOSAI and EUROSAI since 1993.
In terms of the regulatory basis of ALSAI, some very important bylaws have been approved and are subject to continuous enrichment, such as: Internal Regulation on the Organization and Functioning of ALSAI; ALSAI Control Standards, based on international control standards (INTOSAI); Code of Ethics of ALSAI etc.
The independence of the institution is guaranteed by the constitutional position and the organic law of ALSAI, starting from the independence of the President, financial independence, immunity of the President, organizational and functional independence. The President is elected and dismissed by the Assembly on the proposal of the President of the Republic and remains in office for 7 years, with the right of re-election.
The objective of ALSAI is to control the effective and useful use of public funds, financial good administration and control of the implementation of legality in the economic and financial field. Also, communicating and providing information to public authorities and the general public, through the publication of impartial reports.
ALSAI has the duty to control:
– Economic-financial activity of state institutions and other state legal entities;
– Use and protection of state funds by central and local government bodies;
– The economic activity of legal entities, in which the state has more than half of the shares or stocks or when their loans, credits and liabilities are guaranteed by the state;
– Use of funds provided from the state budget to political parties and associations;
– Supervising the activity of state internal audit institutions, including internal audit;
– Other entities defined by special laws.
ALSAI exercises control over the administration of state property and the implementation of the state budget, in the subjects defined in the organic law. The audit covers issues of regularity, financial administration and evaluation.
Referring to the legislation in force, the head of ALSAI has a number of rights in the field of internal organization; programming of controls; staff salaries and remuneration; of control standards; in the field of defining competencies and tasks; of publications; relations with institutions including the Court and the Prosecution, etc. ALSAI controllers have the legal right to receive the necessary information in all units that control and that are subject to control.
ALSAI has the right to give recommendations regarding the control of management and that of internal control-audit, and requests from the controlled entities and the high state authorities to take the necessary measures to improve the situation in accordance with these recommendations. Also, ALSAI has the right to make proposals for the improvement of the legislation in the fields within its duties, even when during the control it ascertains legal or sub-legal acts contrary to the basic laws, it can request their change or abrogation by the bodies that issued them; while for financial violations with economic damage, ALSAI seeks compensation of lost values. In cases when financial violations with economic damage constitute a criminal offense, the responsible persons are reported to the prosecutor’s office, sending the relevant materials.
Regarding the institutional relations of ALSAI, they are clearly defined in the constitution and the organic law.
In addition to the obligation to submit annually to the Assembly of:
– Report on the Implementation of the State Budget;
– Opinions on the report of the Council of Ministers on the expenditures of the previous financial year, before being approved by the Assembly;
– Report on the Annual Activity of ALSAI;
A special place is also occupied by the relations with the state structures, such as: the Assembly, the President of the Republic, the Government, the organs of the justice system, the Prosecution, the mass media (print and television); with international bodies such as INTOSAI, EUROSAI, the Court of Accounts of the EU, counterpart institutions of control, etc.
Capacity building of ALSAI, implementation in accordance with the requirements of international standards of control, controls of legality, regularity and management evaluation, as well as the annual increase of the professional level of ALSAI employees through the provision of assistance and implementation of twinning projects with institutions EU control counterparts will ensure the path of ALSAI and Albania for integration into the European Union.