Jurisdictional Competences

The Hellenic Court of Audit shall have jurisdiction over the adjudication of legal remedies and appeals¹: 

(1) Against acts or imputation decisions issued in relation to the use of public resources and in particular:

• • The management of materials, money, grants and any type of financing, by the State, local authorities, legal persons governed by public law and legal persons governed by private law, funded by national or EU sources.
• • The audit of the accounts and financial statements of the aforementioned entities, including the imposition of fines for late submission of financial data to the General Accounting Office of the State.
• • The audit of the Special Account for Guarantees of Agricultural Products (ELEGEP).
• • The monitoring of breaches of legislation on the prohibition of holding multiple posts and exceeding the maximum remuneration cap in the public sector.

(2) In cases relating to the management of public funds, namely:

• • In the context of verifying the declarations of assets submitted by persons required to file them.
• • In the context of imputing liability to liquidators or executors of wills, in cases where the property is bequeathed to a general government entity, a public- benefit foundation, or an association with a public benefit purpose.

(3) In cases relating to the regulation, execution and payment of a pension or the recovery of unduly paid pensions, for: 

• • direct organs of the State, civil servants and public officials, military personnel and persons entitled to a war pension, 
• • national resistance fighters, Civil War or anti-dictatorship fighters, and victims of a terrorist attack.

(4) In cases of civil liability of civil servants and military personnel, local authority employees and employees of other legal persons governed by public law.

(5) In any dispute relating to the aforementioned matters which falls within the jurisdiction of the Hellenic Court of Audit.
 

¹  Article 8 of Law 4820/2021 on the Organic Law of the Court of Audit and other arrangements (Government Gazette, Series I, No 130)

Audit Remits

The Hellenic Court of Audit shall have the power to¹:

• • Audit the effectiveness of the internal control systems of general government entities, and carry out ex-ante audits on specific categories of expenditure following an assessment of those systems;
• • Carry out ex-post audits of the accounts and financial statements of the aforementioned entities, of all or part of their management, as well as of the Special Account for Guarantees of Agricultural Products; 
• • Perform thematic audits;
• • Audit the management of natural or legal persons with regard to the disbursement of grants or financing by general government entities; 
• • Audit the implementation of programmes (co-)financed by the European Union or its Member States;
• • Verify the reliability of state accounts, on the basis of Regulation (EU) No 473/2013;
• • Conduct audits concerning the writing-off or classification as irrecoverable of debts to the State and social security institutions;
• • Monitor compliance with legislation prohibiting multiple post holding and exceeding the maximum remuneration cap in the public sector;
• • Monitor the revenue of the State, local authorities and their legal entities;
• • Oversee public accounting officers regarding compliance with their legal obligations;
• • Audit legal persons governed by public law in the form of an associatio, and religious legal persons governed by public law, with regard to the allocation of funding received from public sources;
• • Audit the Bank of Greece concerning the management of the available funds of general government entities, as well as the public authority it exercises;
• • Carry out ex-ante audits on the legality of public procurement contracts of high economic value with the State or an equivalent entity as counterparties, and adjudicate any resulting disputes;
• • Undertake the financial audit on an international organisation in which Greece participates, for a fee.
   

¹   Article 9 of Law 4820/2021 (Government Gazette, Series I, No 130)

Advisory Competences

The Hellenic Court of Audit shall deliver opinions on¹:

• • Bills relating to pensions or recognition of service for the purpose of granting pension rights.
• • Bills relating to financial management matters of major importance.
• • Bills regulating public procurement or other matters that generally fall within its powers.
• • Questions of a financial nature submitted by Ministers, provided that they do not concern issues already pending before the Court.
• • Draft ministerial decisions regarding the offsetting of revenue and expenditure in the State Budget.
• • Draft ministerial decisions on the recording of overdue claims of the State or social security institutions in the registers of irrecoverable claims or written-off debts, as well as on their reclassification as recoverable.

¹ Article 10 of Law 4820/2021 (Government Gazette, Series I, No 130)

International Cooperation ¹

The Hellenic Court of Audit participates in international or regional organisations of jurisdictional and audit institutions with relevant competences.

Furthermore, within the framework of Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Hellenic Court of Audit   cooperates with the European Court of Auditors and with peer audit institutions of the Member States of the European Union. This cooperation takes place primarily in the context of audits conducted by the European Court of Auditors on national bodies that manage revenue or expenditure on behalf of the European Union, or that receive payments from its budget. The Court may take action to facilitate and support these audits, in particular by transmitting documents or information addressed by the European Court of Auditors to the national bodies under audit or vice versa. Moreover, while maintaining its independence and in a spirit of mutual trust, it may, through its representatives, monitor the European Court of Auditors' on-the-spot audits carried out in Greece.

Furthermore, the Hellenic Court of Audit, following a cooperation agreement, may participate in joint audits with peer audit institutions or carry out parallel audits on similar audit topics.

Finally, the Hellenic Court of Audit may carry out international training programmes to provide audit expertise to peer audit institutions and may also provide management audit services to international organisations in which Greece participates.  To undertake these projects, an act is issued by its President, specifying in each case the subject matter of the project and the judges or judicial employees assigned to perform the tasks, who receive compensation or remuneration in accordance with the provisions of the respective programmes.

¹ Articles 11 and 139 of Law 4820/2021 "Organic Law of the Court of Auditors and other provisions" (A' 130)