State Audit Office of the Republic of Latvia

According to the Constitution and the Law of the State of Audit Office of the Republic of Latvia the State of Audit Office is an independent collegial institutional body in Republic of Latvia and is subject only to the Law. Its tasks is to monitor the state and local government funds for legitimate, effective and efficient use of conducting audits in accordance with International Standards on Auditing.

State Audit Office (SAO) is a member of INTOSAI and EUROSAI and it functions in accordance with the organizational documents of the supreme audit institutions which holds the purpose of strengthening the working principles of the supreme audit institutions, include questions related to the carrying out audits, as well as sets the requirement to assure independence of the supreme audit institutions. According to the Lima Declaration the Supreme Audit institutions can fulfil their obligation in an objective and efficient manner only if they are fully independent from the auditee, protected from other external influences and have been provided with all the necessary financial assets for carrying out the tasks. The principles set in the Lima declaration have been consolidated in the resolution ‘The facilitation of efficiency, responsibility and the transparency in the public sector thus strengthening the supreme audit institutions’ by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 22, 2011.

The main goal of The State of Audit Office while conducting the audits in accordance with the international audit standards and international regulations of Supreme Audit Institutions is to assess whether the public property has been handled in lawful, compliant, efficient and effective way as well as to provide recommendations to address the found deficiencies.

According to the Law of the State of Audit Office the audits can address the actions of any public person which has been responsible for handling of public finances. The audit can also address the actions of person which have carried out public procurements of state or local municipalities. The only state institution which is not a subject to the audits by the State Audit Office is the Parliament. In order to assure the independence of the institution the Audit Office has been granted with the rights to choose the auditee, the time, form and objectives of the audit.

The State of Audit Office carries out financial, compliance and performance audits concerning:

The State of Audit Office has been actively involved within organizations for international cooperation of Supreme Audit Institutions. Since 17 October 1994, the State Audit Office of the Republic of Latvia is a full-fledged member of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), but since May 9, 1995 – also a member of the European Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI). Membership in these organizations for professional cooperation provides an opportunity to exchange experiences and best practice, thus vastly improving the performance of the State Audit Office.

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