Bundesrechnungshof

The Bundesrechnungshof (Federal Court of Auditors; also Federal Audit Office) is the supreme federal authority for federal audit matters in Germany. There are equivalent bodies at state level. The status of the Bundesrechnungshof, its members and its essential functions are guaranteed by the German Constitution (art. 114 paragraph 2 of the Basic Law), and regulated by other legislation (i.e. Bundesrechnungshof Act, Federal Budget Code). It is an independent judicial body, with around 600 employees. Its current President is Kay Scheller.

The institution is a supreme federal authority only as far as it administers internal tasks such as personnel affairs, management of buildings or clearance of travel expenses and the like. Processing its core duties - auditing, reporting and counseling as external financial controllers - it is not part of the executive branch of Germany, but is positioned beyond the three classical constitutional powers. The Bundesrechnungshof is not subordinated to the federal government. Even the legislative (parliament) cannot instruct it. At best, the parliament can ask the authority to audit certain issues. From the third power, justice, it differs firstly by freely choosing the subject matters it intends to audit and secondly by not delivering legally binding rules, but by issuing recommendations. Bundesrechnungshof’s exact placement within a classical system of the division of powers is disputed.

The Bundesrechnungshof examines the financial management of the federal government, its various property funds and state-owned companies, carrying out sample audits of revenue and expenditure totalling over 500 billion Euros. Its audit mandate also covers social security institutions and the activities of the federal government in private-law enterprises of which it is a shareholder. This includes areas such as defence, roadworks, taxation, and the federal government's activity as a minority shareholder of the formerly nationalised railways, post, and phone companies (Deutsche Bahn AG, Deutsche Post AG and Deutsche Telekom AG respectively).

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