REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
LAW
AMENDING LAW NO I-907 ON THE NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE
23 December 2020 No XIV-135
Vilnius
Article 1. New version of Law of the Republic of Lithuania No I-907 on the National Audit Office
Law of the Republic of Lithuania No IX-907 on the National Audit Office shall be amended as follows:
Article 1. Purpose of the Law
This Law lays down the status of the National Audit Office of Lithuania as the supreme audit institution, the legal framework and principles of activities, the remit and the working conditions of employees.
Article 2. Definitions
1. ‘Compliance audit’ means a type of a public audit whereby the compliance of activities of an audited entity with requirements of legal acts as well as with other requirements is evaluated and an auditor’s independent opinion may be issued.
2. ‘Budget policy monitoring’ means monitoring of compliance with the rules and fulfilment of the tasks set out in the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Implementation of the Fiscal Treaty, preparation and submission of opinions to the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania as well as communication to the public of these opinions.
3. ‘Financial audit’ means a type of a public audit whereby data contained in a set of annual (consolidated) financial statements and a set of annual reports on implementation of the budget of an audited entity are assessed and an auditor’s independent opinion is issued.
4. 'Annual activity plan’ means a planning document for the activities of the National Audit Office for a given budgetary year which sets out the scope of the activity.
5. ‘Entity’ means a public sector entity or any other legal person to whom state assets have been made available or transferred and/or over whom the public sector entity has a decisive influence and in which the National Audit Office performs public auditing, budget policy monitoring and other activities for the purpose of implementing goals set out in this Law.
6. ‘Employee of the National Audit Office’ means the Republic of Lithuania Auditor General, Deputy Auditors General, the Head of Administration, public auditors, employees carrying out other assessments, as well as employees assisting in the implementation of the goals of the National Audit Office and/or conducting internal administration, including material and/or technical support functions.
7. ‘Public audit report’ means a public audit document which presents results of a performed public audit.
8. ‘Public auditor’s report’ means a public audit document which presents an auditor’s independent opinion following a financial and/or compliance audit.
9. ‘Public audit recommendations’ means proposals formulated on the basis of results of a public audit and aimed at addressing issues identified in the course of the public audit, with a view to improving the performance of an audited entity/audited entities and increasing the benefits for society.
10. ‘Public audit’ means an independent and objective assessment carried out in entities audited by the supreme audit institution.
11. ‘Public auditor’ means an employee of the National Audit Office who performs a public audit and/or is involved in the public audit process, and/or monitors public audit recommendations, and/or who carries out assessments, is sworn to the Republic of Lithuania and has the rights and duties laid down in this Law.
12. ‘Performance audit’ means a type of public auditing where activities of an audited entity are evaluated in terms of economy, efficiency and effectiveness.
13. Other terms used in this Law shall be understood as defined or used in the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Implementation of the Fiscal Treaty, the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Fiscal Discipline, the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Budget Structure, the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Domestic Accountability, the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Audit of Financial Statements and the Labour Code of the Republic of Lithuania.
Article 3. Legal status of the National Audit Office
1. The National Audit Office shall be the supreme audit institution, accountable to the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.
2. The National Audit Office shall be a budgetary institution having a bank account, a seal with the national emblem of Lithuania and the inscription ‘Republic of Lithuania. National Audit Office’, its symbols and insignia.
Article 4. Legal framework and principles of activities of the National Audit Office
1. The National Audit Office shall act in compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, this Law and other laws, international treaties and other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania.
2. Activities of the National Audit Office shall be based on principles of independence, transparency, lawfulness and professionalism.
3. In implementing goals and carrying out the necessary activities, the National Audit Office, the Auditor General, Deputy Auditors General and other employees of the National Audit Office must not seek or take instructions from any institution or person. Institutions and other persons must respect independence of the National Audit Office, must not seek to exert influence as well as must not exert influence on the National Audit Office and employees of the National Audit Office in the course of performance of their duties.
4. The structure of the National Audit Office shall be established in accordance with this Law and having regard to the goals and remit of the National Audit Office. The structure of the National Audit Office shall not be subject to the provisions of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Public Administration concerning the internal administration of a public administration entity.
Article 5. Council
1. A council shall be set up within the National Audit Office as an advisory body of the Auditor General.
Article 6. Procedure for financing, audit and external review
1. The amount of state budget appropriations allocated to the National Audit Office shall be approved by the Seimas in a law of the Republic of Lithuania on the approval of financial indicators of the state budget and municipal budgets for a specific year. Having assessed the need for state budget appropriations in the coming budget year, the National Audit Office shall submit proposals to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania in accordance with the procedure laid down in legal acts governing the drawing-up of budgets. The Seimas Committee on Audit shall assess the conformity of the state budget appropriations proposed to the National Audit Office in the draft state budget submitted to the Seimas by the Government to the needs of the National Audit Office by submitting a conclusion and, if necessary, shall present this conclusion at the sittings of the Seimas when debating and adopting a draft law of the Republic of Lithuania on the approval of financial indicators of the state budget and municipal budgets for a specific year.
2. The amount equal to the most recently published average monthly earnings in the whole economy shall, subject to being accounted for, be granted on a monthly basis to the Auditor General for the purpose of financing his costs of representation in the Republic of Lithuania and abroad. The procedure for using these funds shall be laid down by the Auditor General.
3. Auditing of last year’s financial statements of the National Audit Office shall be performed each year by an audit firm selected by the National Audit Office in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Public Procurement. The same audit firm may perform audits of financial statements of the National Audit Office for a maximum period of five consecutive financial years. A set of financial statements of the National Audit Office, together with an auditor’s report, an audit report on the financial statements and an activity report of the National Audit Office shall be submitted to the Seimas by 1 May of the current year.
4. Internal audit of the National Audit Office shall be performed by the Internal Audit Division established within the National Audit Office.
Article 7. Main goals of the National Audit Office
The goals of the National Audit Office shall be as follows:
1) to supervise the lawfulness and effectiveness of the management and use of the state assets and implementation of the state budget;
2) to promote a positive and efficient public auditing impact on the public finance management and control system and on results-driven and public needs-oriented public management;
Article 8. Remit of the National Audit Office
1. The National Audit Office shall perform public auditing, carry out budget policy monitoring and other activities in the implementation of the goals laid down in this Law.
2. The National Audit Office as the supreme audit institution shall annually submit to the Seimas the following:
1) a public auditor’s report and a public audit report on a set of consolidated statements of the State;
2) a public auditor’s report and a public audit report on a set of consolidated statements of the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund;
3) a public auditor’s report and a public audit report on a set of consolidated statements of the State Social Insurance Fund;
4) public auditor’s reports and public audit reports on monetary funds of the State the estimates of which are approved by the Seimas;
3. The National Audit Office as the supreme audit institution shall perform audit of the use of state budget funds allocated to municipal budgets. The National Audit Office as the supreme audit institution shall perform audit of the implementation of municipal budgets and the management, use and disposal of municipal assets to the extent laid down in Article 13 of this Law.
4. The National Audit Office as the supreme audit institution shall, in a manner prescribed by international treaties and other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania, perform audits of the European Union financial assistance allocated to the Republic of Lithuania and submit records of these audits to the relevant institutions.
5. The National Audit Office as the supreme audit institution may conduct performance auditing of the Bank of Lithuania, with the exception of the fulfilment of the tasks of the European System of Central Banks and the Eurosystem, without violating activities of independent external auditors of the Bank of Lithuania. The National Audit Office the supreme audit institution shall take into consideration the independence of the Bank of Lithuania and shall not give instructions to the Bank of Lithuania, the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, its members in their performance of the functions related to the fulfilment of the tasks of the European System of Central Banks and the Eurosystem.
6. The National Audit Office as the supreme audit institution shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Auditor General, carry out an external review of the audits performed by the control and audit services of municipalities.
7. When performing the functions of the budget policy monitoring authority set out in the Constitutional Law on the Implementation of the Fiscal Treaty, the National Audit Office shall submit to the Seimas:
1) within 30 working days after the Government or an institution authorised by it submits to the Seimas a report on the fulfilment of the structural adjustment target for the previous year and the structural general government balance indicator for the previous year, an opinion on the validity of the reasons for failure to implement the structural adjustment target for the previous year and the eligibility of measures to implement this target;
2) within 15 working days after the Government submits to the Seimas a draft law of the Republic of Lithuania on the approval of financial indicators of the state budget and municipal budgets for a specific year (a law amending it), an opinion on the structural adjustment target set out by the draft law of the Republic of Lithuania on the approval of financial indicators of the state budget and municipal budgets for a specific year and on the need for additional measures (in monetary terms) to implement this target;
3) within 7 working days from making the economic development scenario publicly available by the Government or an institution authorised by it, an opinion on its approval;
4) within 7 working days from making the economic development scenario publicly available by the Government or an institution authorised by it, an opinion on the correspondence between the current or foreseeable situation and the concept of extraordinary event in accordance with the provisions laid down by Council Regulation (EC) No 1466/1997 of 7 July 97 on the strengthening of the surveillance of budgetary positions and the surveillance and coordination of economic policies, as last amended by Regulation (EU) No 1175/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2011;
5) within 15 working days after the Government submits to the Seimas a proposal on the structural adjustment targets and the measure guidelines for fulfilling these targets, an opinion on the compliance of the structural adjustment targets and the measure guidelines for fulfilling these targets proposed by the Government to the Seimas for approval with the requirements for medium-term target achievement time limits laid down in the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Implementation of the Fiscal Treaty.
CHAPTER IV
REMIT OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL, DEPUTY AUDITORS GENERAL,
HEAD OF ADMINISTRATION AND THE STAFF
Article 9. Remit of the Auditor General
1. The Auditor General shall:
2) himself represent or authorise another person to represent the National Audit Office at state and municipal institutions and agencies, in court, and international organisations;
4) establish the structure of the National Audit Office, the remit of the Deputy Auditors General which is not provided for in Article 10 of this Law, the number of positions, a list of employees' positions, and regulations of structural units;
5) in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts, recruit and release/dismiss employees of the National Audit Office, except Deputy Auditors General;
6) nominate candidates for the posts of Deputy Auditors General and make proposals for their release/dismissal in the cases established in this Law to the President of the Republic;
8) submit to the Seimas public audit reports and public auditor’s reports specified in Article 8(2) of this Law;
9) be entitled to attend sittings of the Seimas and present his views when issues related to the activities of the National Audit Office are being considered;
10) be entitled to make proposals to the Seimas, the President of the Republic or the Government for the improvement of legal acts with regard to the regulation or/and the results of the activities of the National Audit Office;
12) be entitled to express a separate opinion on resolutions of the Government with regard to the results of the activities of the National Audit Office. He shall inform the Seimas and the Government about this opinion within three working days after a Government meeting;
13) lay down the procedure for examining requests and complaints of persons at the National Audit Office;
2. In the absence of the Auditor General, including the cases established in Article 20(5) and (6) of this Law, one of the Deputy Auditors General shall deputise for the Auditor General on the instruction of the Auditor General, but he shall not have the powers specified in point 6 of paragraph 1 of this Article. In the absence of the instruction of the Auditor General, he shall be deputised for by the eldest Deputy Auditor General.
Article 10. Remit of Deputy Auditors General and Head of Administration
1. Deputy Auditors General shall:
2. The National Audit Office shall have its own administration. The Head of Administration shall be in charge of it. The Head of Administration shall be subordinate to the Auditor General.
3. The Head of Administration shall:
1) coordinate and control activities of administrative, resource management and other structural units assigned by the Auditor General and contributing to the fulfilment of the tasks of the National Audit Office as well as carrying out internal administration, and ensure optimal management and use of financial, material, intellectual and information resources;
2) organise and coordinate the implementation of instructions of the Auditor General and Deputy Auditors General, and the preparation and coordination of legal acts;
3) organise the preparation of regulations of structural units of the National Audit Office, a list of employees' positions, other legal acts and orders of the Auditor General and Deputy Auditors General;
4) on the instruction of the Auditor General, recruit to and release/dismiss employees of the National Audit Office in accordance with the procedure laid down by law;
4. In the event of a temporary absence of the Head of Administration, the Auditor General shall assign all or part of his functions to one of the heads of the structural units of the National Audit Office.
Article 11. Rights and duties of public auditors and employees carrying out other assessments
1. Public auditors and employees of the National Audit Office carrying out other assessments shall be entitled to:
6) obtain, electronically and free of charge, data and information necessary for carrying out the activities from state and municipal institutions and agencies, state information systems and registers;
Article 12. Types of public audit
1. The National Audit Office, as the supreme audit institution, shall conduct financial, compliance and performance audits. Compliance audit may be conducted in conjunction with a financial or performance audit.
Article 13. Scope of activities
1. In order to fulfil the tasks assigned to it and to carry out the activities required for that purpose, the National Audit Office shall be independent in deciding on the scope of activities set out in an annual activity plan. This plan shall be approved annually by the Auditor General after presenting it to the Seimas Committee on Audit.
2. Audits or assessments provided for in an annual activity plan of the National Audit Office shall aim to ensure that the most major risks in the public sector are identified and the public audits and other assessments mandatory under this Law are performed.
Article 14. Entity’s rights and duties
1. An entity shall be entitled to have access to a draft public audit or assessment document and to deliver his remarks on it within the time limit set by the National Audit Office, which must not be shorter than ten working days.
2. An entity must ensure the right of public auditors and employees of the National Audit Office carrying out other assessments to freely enter premises, obtain documents, check information sources and receive data, including information obtained electronically, as well as to meet with the entity's management and employees and to receive their written explanations.
3. An entity must provide adequate working conditions for public auditors and employees of the National Audit Office carrying out other assessments.
Article 15. Results of activities and their formalisation
1. Results of activities of the National Audit Office shall be formalised as reports, opinions and other documents.
Article 16. Recommendations of the National Audit Office and monitoring of the implementation thereof
1. An entity shall, within the time limit laid down in Article 14(1) of this Law, submit to the National Audit Office as the supreme audit institution the measures and time limits for the implementation of recommendations of the National Audit Office.
2. The National Audit Office as the supreme audit institution shall submit to the Seimas reports on the implementation of recommendations of the National Audit Office twice a year, i.e. before the opening of the spring and autumn sessions of the Seimas of the current year (at the latest by 10 March and 10 September of the current year).
CHAPTER VI
COOPERATION WITH THE SEIMAS, THE GOVERNMENT,
LAW ENFORCEMENT AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Article 17. Relations with the Seimas, the Government, law enforcement and other institutions
1. In the event of detecting material breaches, the National Audit Office shall inform the Seimas, the Government, law enforcement or other public administration institutions and agencies and/or take other preventive measures.
Article 18. International relations
1. The National Audit Office shall maintain international relations with the European Court of Auditors, the supreme audit institutions of other countries, independent fiscal and other institutions.
2. The National Audit Office as the supreme audit institution shall participate in the activities of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), its regional group EUROSAI, the Contact Committee of the Supreme Audit Institutions of the European Union and other international activities.
CHAPTER VII
EMPLOYEES OF THE NATIONAL AUDIT INSTITUTION,
THEIR APPOINTMENT/RECRUITMENT AND RELEASE/DISMISSAL
Article 19. Status of employees of the National Audit Office
1. The Auditor General and Deputy Auditors General shall be subject to other laws to the extent that their status is not governed by this Law. No employment contracts shall be concluded with the Auditor General and Deputy Auditors General. The duties of the Auditor General and Deputy Auditors General shall be incompatible with any other elected or appointed posts at state and municipal institutions and agencies, as well as with work at legal persons. The Auditor General and Deputy Auditors General may not receive any other remuneration except for his official salary and remuneration for scientific and teaching activities at higher education or qualification improvement institutions, for non-formal adult education and for royalties for creative work.
2. Employment contracts shall be concluded with employees of the National Audit Office, except with those referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article. Employees of the National Audit Office may work only within the National Audit Office. With the consent of the Auditor General, employees of the National Audit Office may also work elsewhere, provided that this does not give rise to a conflict of public and private interest, does not lead to the use of work within the National Audit Office for personal interest, does not discredit the authority of the National Audit Office, does not prevent a person holding the post of an employee of the National Audit Office from properly performing the set functions, also where this is not the case of working in enterprises, agencies or organisations in which the employee of the National Audit Office may carry out audit procedures or other activities of the National Audit Office, and where there are no other circumstances preventing employees of the National Audit Office from performing other employment and receiving remuneration.
3. Employees of the National Audit Office shall hold an employment certificate. The form of an employment certificate and the description of a procedure for issuing and using it shall be approved by the Auditor General.
4. Employment relationships of employees of the National Audit Institution shall be governed by the Labour Code, this Law and other legal acts regulating employment relationships. The Auditor General and his deputies shall be subject to the laws and other legal acts regulating employment relationships and social guarantees to the extent that their status and social guarantees are not regulated by this Law.
Article 20. Procedure of the Appointment and Release/Dismissal of the Auditor General
1. The Auditor General shall be appointed for a term of five years by the Seimas upon submission of the President of the Republic and shall be released/dismissed on the grounds laid down in paragraph 6 of this Article.
2. The same person may be appointed as Auditor General for a maximum of two consecutive terms of office.
3. A citizen of the Republic of Lithuania of good repute who has a university degree or an equivalent degree, has a command of the official language, has at least five-year experience in management and at least ten-year experience in auditing, legal, economic, public administration, management and/or financial work or pedagogical experience in these areas may be appointed as Auditor General.
4. The Auditor General shall assume his post only after he takes an oath of office to the Republic of Lithuania at a sitting of the Seimas.
5. The powers of the Auditor General shall cease:
6. The Seimas shall release/dismiss the Auditor General:
4) when he loses the citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania in accordance with the procedure established by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Citizenship;
7. The Auditor General shall submit his resignation statement to the President of the Republic. A decision on the resignation statement of the Auditor General shall be taken within 30 calendar days from the submission of the resignation statement. In the absence of a decision to grant the resignation statement of the Auditor General or a decision to reject the resignation statement of the Auditor General within that time limit, the Auditor General shall remain in office if, within 15 calendar days of the expiry of the time limit for the decision which has not been taken or the taken decision to reject the resignation, the Auditor General has not submitted a repeat resignation statement. Upon submitting the repeat resignation statement, the powers of the Auditor General shall be deemed to have expired from the day following the date of submission of the resignation statement.
8. The Auditor General shall be released/dismissed on the basis of the state of his health upon submission of the President of the Republic and only on the basis of the opinion of the medical commission set up by the Minister for Health of the Republic of Lithuania that the state of health of the Auditor General does not allow him to hold the post.
9. Upon the expiry of the term of office of the Auditor General or upon his resignation, if he has served as Auditor General for a period not exceeding four years, the Auditor General shall be paid a severance pay equal to two months' average remuneration of the Auditor General or, if he has served as Auditor General for a period of at least four years, a severance pay equal to four months’ average remuneration of the Auditor General.
10. The Auditor General released on the ground laid down in point 2 of paragraph 6 of this Article shall be paid a severance pay equal to four months’ average remuneration of the Auditor General. This pay shall be made no later than within one month after the release of the Auditor General.
11. Payment of a severance pay specified in paragraph 9 of this Article shall begin after the lapse of one month from the expiry of the term of office of the Auditor General or the date of his resignation and shall be paid every month in equal instalments. Payment of this severance pay shall be terminated if a person assumes the post of a state politician, a state official or a civil servant or takes up employment with a state or municipal agency maintained from the state or municipal budget, the State Social Insurance Fund budget or other state-established funds, or with a state or municipal enterprise or a public establishment owned by the State or a municipality, or with the Bank of Lithuania. If the person assumes the post specified in this paragraph not on the first day of a month, a severance pay shall be paid only for the days of that month prior to the assuming the post of a state politician, a state official or a civil servant or taking up employment with the state or municipal agency maintained from the state or municipal budget, the State Social Insurance Fund budget or other state-established funds, or with the state or municipal enterprise or the public establishment owned by the State or a municipality, or with the Bank of Lithuania. Upon a person’s death, the portion of the severance pay which is due to the person for the month in which he died but which was not paid before the person’s death shall be paid to his heir who has submitted the inheritance documents.
Article 21. Procedure of the appointment and release/dismissal of Deputy Auditors General
1. Deputy Auditors General shall be appointed for a term of five years on the proposal of the Auditor General and shall be released/dismissed before the expiry of their term office on the grounds laid down in paragraph 6 of this Article by the President of the Republic.
2. The same person may be appointed as a Deputy Auditor General for a maximum of two consecutive terms of office.
3. A citizen of the Republic of Lithuania of good repute who has completed a university degree or an equivalent education, has a command of the official language, has at least three-year experience in management and at least five-year experience in auditing, legal, economic, public administration, management and/or financial work or pedagogical experience in these areas may be appointed as a Deputy Auditor General.
4. Deputy Auditors General shall take the oath of office to the Republic of Lithuania before taking up their duties. The oath of office of a Deputy Auditor General shall be administered by the President of the Republic.
5. The powers of a Deputy Auditor General shall cease:
6. A Deputy Auditor General shall be released/dismissed:
4) if he loses the citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania in accordance with the procedure established by the Law on Citizenship;
7. A Deputy Auditor General shall submit his resignation statement to the Auditor General. A decision on the resignation statement of the Deputy Auditor General shall be taken within 30 calendar days from the submission of the resignation statement. In the absence of a decision to grant the resignation statement of the Deputy Auditor General or a decision to reject the resignation statement of the Deputy Auditor General within that time limit, the Deputy Auditor General shall remain in office if, within 15 calendar days of the expiry of the time limit for the decision which has not been taken or of the taken decision to reject the resignation, the Deputy Auditor General has not submitted a repeat resignation statement. Upon submitting the repeat resignation statement, the powers of the Deputy Auditor General shall be deemed to have expired from the day following the date of submission of the repeat resignation statement.
8. A Deputy Auditor General may be released in accordance with point 2 of paragraph 6 of this Law by the President of the Republic on the proposal of the Auditor General.
9. A Deputy Auditor General may be released/dismissed for health reasons by the President of the Republic only if there are the conditions specified in Article 20(8) of this Law.
10. Upon the expiry of the term of office of a Deputy Auditor General or upon his resignation, if he has served as a Deputy Auditor General for a period not exceeding four years, the Deputy Auditor General shall be paid a severance pay equal to two months' average remuneration of the Deputy Auditor General or, if he has served as a Deputy Auditor General for a period of at least four years, a severance pay equal to four months’ average remuneration of the Deputy Auditor General.
11. A Deputy Auditor General released on the ground laid down in point 2 of paragraph 6 of this Article shall be paid a severance pay equal to four months’ average remuneration of the Deputy Auditor General. This pay shall be made not later than within one month after the release of the Deputy Auditor General.
12. Payment of a severance pay specified in paragraph 10 of this Article shall begin after the lapse of one month from the expiry of the term of office of the Deputy Auditor General or the date of his resignation and shall be paid every month in equal instalments. Payment of this severance pay shall be terminated if a person assumes the post of a state politician, a state official or a civil servant or takes up employment with a state or municipal agency maintained from the state or municipal budget, the State Social Insurance Fund budget or other state-established funds, or with a state or municipal enterprise or a public establishment owned by the State or a municipality, or with the Bank of Lithuania. If the person assumes the post specified in this paragraph not on the first day of a month, a severance pay shall be paid only for the days of that month prior to assuming the post of a state politician, a state official or a civil servant or taking up employment with the state or municipal agency maintained from the state or municipal budget, the State Social Insurance Fund budget or other state-established funds, or with the state or municipal enterprise or the public establishment owned by the State or a municipality, or with the Bank of Lithuania. Upon a person’s death, the portion of the severance pay which is due to the person for the month in which he died but which was not paid before the date of person’s death shall be paid to his heir who has submitted the inheritance documents.
Article 22. Requirements for recruitment of persons to the National Audit Office, grounds and conditions for release/dismissal of employees of the National Audit Office
1. A citizen of the Republic of Lithuania of good repute who has a university degree (Master's qualification degree) or an equivalent degree, has a command of the official language, has at least three-year experience in management and at least three-year experience in auditing, legal, economic, public administration, management and/or financial work or pedagogical experience in these areas may be recruited to the post of Head of Administration. The Head of Administration may, by a decision of the Auditor General, be subject to a specific requirement to hold special rights laid down by law or to meet the requirements laid down by law necessary for issuing an authorisation to handle or familiarise with classified information or for granting other special rights.
2. A person recruited to the post of an employee of the National Audit Office must meet the requirements laid down by the Auditor General. Requirements which are not necessary for the performance of the set functions may not be imposed.
3. Persons recruited to posts of employees of the National Audit Office, other than those performing material and/or technical support functions, must be of good repute and must have declared their private interests in accordance with the procedure laid down by law. A person shall not be considered to be of good repute where he:
1) has been found guilty, in accordance with the procedure laid down by law, of a premeditated crime and has an unexpired or unexpunged conviction or an unexpired term of bail;
2) has been found guilty, in accordance with the procedure laid down by law, of a crime against the civil service and public interest or of a corruption crime within the meaning of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Prevention of Corruption and has an unexpired or unexpunged conviction or an unexpired term of bail;
3) has been found guilty, in accordance with the procedure laid down by law, of a crime which incurs pecuniary damage to the State and has an unexpired or unexpunged conviction or an unexpired term of bail;
4) has been found guilty, in accordance with the procedure laid down by law, of a misdemeanour against the civil service and public interest or a corruption misdemeanour within the meaning of the Law on Prevention of Corruption, and less than three years have lapsed from the coming into effect of a judgment of conviction or the term of bail has not expired;
5) has been dismissed from service or work for gross breach of work duties and less than five years have lapsed since the dismissal or his conduct is not in compliance with the Code of Ethics for Employees of the National Audit Office;
6) has been dismissed from work, from a post or has lost the entitlement to pursue the relevant activity due to non-compliance with the requirement of good repute set out in other laws or due to a breach of conduct/ethics norms, and less than five years have lapsed from the dismissal from work, from the post or loss of the entitlement to pursue the relevant activity;
7) has been dismissed from the appointive post or removed from the elective post on grounds of breaking an oath or pledge, degrading the name of the officer, and less than five years have lapsed from the dismissal or removal from the post;
4. If an employee of the National Audit Office is subject to a special requirement to hold special rights laid down by law or to meet the requirements laid down by law necessary for issuing an authorisation to handle or familiarise with classified information or for granting other special rights, the nomination of a person seeking the status of an employee of the National Audit Office must be examined in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts or the special right must be granted before the person is recruited/ transferred to the post of an employee of the National Audit Office. The person shall be recruited/transferred to the post of an employee of the National Audit Office when he has been granted the special right or has obtained the conclusion from the competent state institution that this person may be granted an authorisation to handle or familiarise with classified information, or that he may be granted another special right laid down by law. The National Audit Office shall be entitled to acquire data on the person seeking the status of an employee of the National Audit Office from competent state institutions.
5. Posts of employees of the National Audit Office referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall be filled by open competitions or internal selections. The procedure for organising and conducting competitions or selections shall be laid down by the Auditor General. Participation in competitions and selections shall be open to persons meeting the special requirements laid down by the Auditor General, except for the case provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article, and the specific requirements. During a competition and/or selection, a person’s suitability to perform the duties of an employee of the State Control referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall be examined.
6. Public auditors shall take the oath of office to the Republic of Lithuania before taking up their duties. The oath of office of a public auditor shall be administered by the Auditor General or a Deputy Auditor General deputising for him.
7. Employees of the National Audit Office performing material and/or technical support functions shall be recruited without competition, unless otherwise provided by the Auditor General.
8. With the exception of those performing material and/or technical support functions, employees of the National Audit Office must, for a period of one year discontinuing the performance of their duties, avoid any conflict of public and private interest arising from their new activities. When they intend to engage in activities which, in their opinion, could cause a conflict of public and private interest, they shall inform the National Audit Office in writing and request a recommendation-type opinion before committing to do so.
9. The Head of Administrative shall be recruited for a term of seven years. The same person may not hold the post of Head of Administration for more than two consecutive terms of office.
10. Employees of the National Audit Office referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, other than those performing material and/or technical support functions, shall also be dismissed if:
1) through their conduct they discredit the name of an employee of the National Audit Office during or outside working hours;
3) they have lost the citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania in accordance with the procedure established by the Law on Citizenship;
Article 23. Restrictions on the recruitment to the National Audit Office
A person may not be recruited to the post of an employee of the National Audit Office specified to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, except those performing material and/or technical support functions, if:
2) he refuses to take an oath of office to the Republic of Lithuania. Only public auditors shall be subject to this requirement;
Article 24. Oath of office of the Auditor General, Deputy Auditors General and public auditors
1. The Auditor General, Deputy Auditors General and public auditors shall take an oath of office to the Republic of Lithuania. The text of the oath of office shall be as follows:
'I (forename, surname)
swear to be faithful to the Republic of Lithuania;
to respect and observe its Constitution and laws;
to strengthen, to the best of my ability, the independence of Lithuania,
to protect state property,
to conscientiously serve the Homeland, democracy, and the well-being of the people of Lithuania.
So help me God.’
2. A person taking an oath of office shall have the right to choose and may take the oath of office without the last sentence.
3. A person who has taken an oath of office shall sign the text of the oath of office. The signed text of the oath of office shall be kept in the personal file.
Article 25. Ethics of employees of the National Audit Office
1. Ethics of employees of the National Audit Office shall be governed by the Code of Ethics of Employees of the National Audit Office approved by the Auditor General.
2. The procedure for examining violations of ethics of employees of the National Audit Office shall be laid down by the Auditor General.
Article 26. Gross breach of work duties, suspension from work of an employee of the National Audit Office, legal consequences of suspension from work
1. In addition to the cases referred to in the Labour Code, the following may be considered as a gross breach of work duties:
2) an infringement of this Law and other laws, of the Code of Ethics of Employees of the National Audit Office and/or other actions of an employee of the National Audit Office discrediting the name of the employee of the National Audit Office and/or undermining the authority of and/or trust in the National Audit Office;
3) failure to declare his own or his family members' property and income in accordance with the procedure laid down by law;
2. In addition to the cases referred to in the Labour Code, an employee of the National Audit Office must, by decision of the Auditor General, be suspended from work where:
1) the Auditor General receives information that an employee of the National Audit Office is suspected or accused of having committed a premeditated serious or grave crime, or is suspected or accused of having committed a crime or a misdemeanour against the civil service or public interests. In this event, the employee of the National Audit Office shall be suspended from work until the end of criminal proceedings;
2) if there is no post to which an employee of the National Audit Office may be transferred after he has been prohibited from handling or familiarising himself with classified information in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on State Secrets and Official Secrets or if an employee of the National Audit Office does not agree to be transferred to another post. In this event, the employee of the National Audit Office shall be suspended from for the period of screening carried out in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on State Secrets and Official Secrets.
3. A decision to suspend an employee of the National Audit Office from work must specify a period during which the employee of the National Audit Office is suspended from work, the reasons for and the legal basis of his suspension from work as well as the procedure and the time limits for appealing against the decision.
4. An employee of the National Audit Office suspended from work at the request of the entity that has adopted a decision to suspend the employee of the National Audit Office from work shall return an employment certificate, all the means he has been entrusted with regard to the performance of his duties and the documents in his possession.
5. At the end of the period of suspension from work, an employee of the National Audit Office shall be reinstated in his post if there is no reason to terminate his employment contract after his suspension from work.
6. No remuneration shall be paid to an employee of the National Audit Office for the period of suspension from work. An employee of the National State Audit Office who has been suspended from work in an unjustified manner or if the circumstances giving rise to the suspension from work have not been confirmed shall be reinstated in his post and, within ten working days from the date on which the employee of the National Audit Office resumed his employment, shall be paid remuneration for the period of suspension from work, as well as default interest, the amount of which is determined in accordance with the procedure laid down by law.
Article 27. Improvement of qualifications
1. The Auditor General shall lay down priorities for the improvement of qualifications of the employees.
2. The institution must facilitate the improvement of qualifications of its employees and the employees of the National Audit Office must continuously improve their qualifications in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Auditor General.
Article 28. Remuneration
1. Remuneration of employees of the National Audit Office, procedure and conditions of payment thereof shall be established by this Law and other laws. The Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Remuneration of Employees of State and Municipal Bodies and Members of Commissions shall not apply to employees of the National Audit Office.
3. The Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Remuneration of State Politicians and State Officials shall set out the amounts and conditions of payment of remuneration of the Auditor General and Deputy Auditors General.
4. The basic salary of an employee of the National Audit Office other than the employees specified in paragraph 3 of this Article shall be set out on the grounds of the basic salary coefficient established for the post referred to in paragraph 6 of this Article or the range of basic salary coefficients for the group of posts referred to in paragraph 7 of this Article.
5. The unit of a basic salary coefficient shall be the base amount (hereinafter: the ‘base amount’) of the basic salary (remuneration) of state politicians, judges, state officials, civil servants, employees of state and municipal budgetary institutions of the Republic of Lithuania approved by the Seimas for a given year. The basic salary shall be calculated by multiplying the basic salary coefficient by the base amount.
6. The basic salary of the Head of Administration shall be set out by applying the basic salary coefficient equal to 25.5.
7. The coefficient for the fixed part of the basic salary of employees of the National Audit Office who hold the post of the head or deputy head of a structural unit or other employee with direct subordinates may not exceed 24. With the exception of employees of the National Audit Office who perform material and/or technical support functions, the coefficient for the fixed part of the basic salary of employees of the National Audit Office may not exceed 22.5. The coefficient for the fixed part of the basic salary of employees of the National Audit Office who perform material and/or technical support functions may not exceed 19.5. For the employees of the National Audit Office referred to in this paragraph, the specific amounts of the fixed part of the basic salary shall be set out by the Auditor General in the Remuneration System from the range of coefficients set out in this paragraph for the fixed part of the basic salary of the position concerned. The Remuneration System shall detail the criteria for setting out the fixed part of the basic salary (complexity of awareness and knowledge, problem-solving, complexity of the activity, workload, level of responsibility, availability of additional skills or capacities relevant to the post held, etc.).
8. The procedure and conditions of payment of the variable part of the basic salary shall be set out in the Remuneration System of National Audit Office Employees. The variable part of the basic salary may not exceed 30 per cent of the fixed part of the basic salary. The variable part of the basic salary shall consist of the following bonuses: for work involving the assignment in writing to temporarily perform the functions of another employee of the National Audit Office, or for work involving departures from regular working conditions, or for work involving an increase in the amount of work carried out in the performance of specified functions within the prescribed working time.
10. Employees of the National Audit Office, other than the Auditor General, may receive a lump-sum cash benefit for large-scale and complex public audits of significance for the State and society or other results relevant to activities of the National Audit Office. The lump-sum cash benefit may not exceed the basic salary for an employee of the National Audit Office or the fixed part of the basic salary for the employees holding the posts referred to in paragraph 7 of this Article, and shall be paid within the limits of the funds allocated for remuneration in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Auditor General.
11. For participation in support projects financed by the European Union, international organisations or foreign states, or in Lithuania's development cooperation and democracy promotion projects pursuing the activities related to the goals of the National Audit Office, employees of the National Audit Office may be paid a lump-sum or periodic allowances from funds of the European Union, international organizations, foreign states under the conditions and at rates set out in agreements on support projects, where such allowances are not included in the remuneration of the employees of the National Audit Office determined in paragraph 3, 6, 7 and 8 of this Article. For the period during which an employee of the National Audit Office participates in support projects or Lithuania's development cooperation and democracy promotion projects referred to in this paragraph and for which he receives allowances from funds of the European Union, international organisations or foreign states allocated to the implementation of the support projects, that employee of the National Audit Office shall not be paid the remuneration from the state budget appropriations allocated to the National Audit Office.
Article 29. Additional annual leave
When an employee of the National Audit Office is granted additional annual leave in accordance with Article 138(2) of the Labour Code, the years of service to the State of Lithuania referred to in Article 47(1) and (2) of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Civil Service which were acquired before 30 June 2021 shall be included in the period of long-term continuous employment at the same workplace.
Article 30. Provision of information to the public
Public audit reports and public auditor's reports, reports on the implementation of recommendations of the National Audit Office, documents specified in Article 6(3) of this Law, opinions laid down in Article 8(7) of this Law and other information about the activities of the National Audit Office shall be published on the website of the National Audit Office and disseminated via other media in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts.
Article 31. Examination of requests and complaints of persons
1. Requests and complaints of persons shall be examined by the National Audit Office if they are directly linked to the results of the activities of the National Audit Office.
2. Requests and complaints of persons where it is not possible to identify a person who has submitted a request or a complaint and to verify the authenticity of his request or complaint shall not be examined, unless the Auditor General or an employee of the National Audit Office authorised by him decides otherwise.
3. Complaints of persons against actions, omissions or administrative decisions of the National Audit Office shall be examined and decided upon in accordance with the procedure for examining requests and complaints of persons, without applying the requirements for the administrative procedure as laid down in the Law on Public Administration.'
Article 2. Entry into force and implementation of the Law
1. This Law, except for paragraphs 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of this Article, shall enter into force on 1 July 2021.
2. On 1 January 2022, the following version of Article 2(3) of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the National Audit Office, as set out in Article 1 of this Law, shall enter into force:
‘3. ‘Financial audit’ means a type of a public audit whereby data contained in a set of annual statements of an audited entity are assessed and an auditor’s independent opinion is issued.'
3. On 1 January 2022, the following version of Article 8(2) of the Law on the National Audit Office, as set out in Article 1 of this Law, shall enter into force:
‘2. The National Audit Office as the supreme audit institution shall annually perform an audit of the sets of annual statements as specified in this paragraph and shall submit to the Seimas and to the public sector entities who prepared these sets of statements the public auditor's reports and public audit reports, i.e. concerning the following:
4. On 1 January 2022, the following version of Article 9(1)(7) of the Law on the National Audit Office, as set out in Article 1 of this Law, shall enter into force:
'7) submit to the Seimas a set of annual statements of the National Audit Office together with an auditor's report;'.
5. On 1 January 2022, the following version of Article 14(1) of the Law on the National Audit Office, as set out in Article 1 of this Law, shall enter into force:
‘1. An entity shall be entitled to have access to a draft public audit or another assessment document and to deliver his remarks on it within the time limit set by the National Audit Office, which must not be shorter than ten working days. With regard to public audit documents laid down in the Law on Public Sector Accountability, the National Audit Office may set a shorter time limit for access to and submission of remarks to the National Audit Office.’
Article 3. Scope of the Law
1. Career civil servants of the National Audit Office appointed to their posts before the entry into force of this Law shall, with their consent, have the right to conclude without competition employment contracts to perform the same functions.
2. Career civil servants of the National Audit Office who do not agree to exercise the right granted in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be released in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Civil Service and other legal acts.
3. Employees of the National Audit Office whose remuneration under this Law will be lower than the remuneration fixed before the entry into force of this Law (the basic salary plus a bonus for the length of service to the State of Lithuania or the fixed part of the basic salary together with the variable part) shall not be subject to any reduction in remuneration as long as they perform the same functions and this shall be laid down in the employment contract.
4. For employees of the National Audit Office who served as the Auditor General, Deputy Auditors General or career civil servants with the National Audit Office on 30 June 2021, as many working days of additional leave shall be added to the working days of additional leave calculated in accordance with the Description of the Duration of and the Conditions and Procedure for Granting Additional Leave, as approved by Resolution No 496 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 21 June 2017, so that an annual leave of the duration not shorter than the one determined for the Auditor General, Deputy Auditors General or career civil servants on 30 June 2021 according to Article 42 of the Law on the Civil Service would be granted.
5. The procedures for the imposition of disciplinary penalties and other procedures initiated before the entry into force of this Law shall be continued until their completion according to the effective procedure applied before the entry into force of this Law.
6. The Auditor General and Deputy Auditors General shall remain in office after the entry into force of this Law until the end of their term of office. After the entry into force of this Law, a Deputy Auditor General shall be appointed for the first time for a term of office of five years. The other Deputy Auditors General shall be appointed for a term of office exceeding the term of office of the previously appointed Deputy Auditor General by one year, provided that one year has not lapsed since the appointment of the previously appointed Deputy Auditor General. Subsequently, Deputy Auditors General shall be appointed in accordance with Article 21 of the Law on the National Audit Office, as set out in Article 1 of this Law.
I promulgate this Law passed by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.