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The Libyan Audit Bureau (also referred to as AB) is the supreme body for financial control and accounting in Libya, and it is an independent and impartial professional body with legal personality and independent financial liability. The Audit Bureau reports directly to the legislative authority and is also member of international, African, and Arab supreme audit organizations.

History
The Libyan Audit Bureau was first established pursuant to Law 31 of 1955, and it was subject to multiple legislative amendments as a result of the various structural changes introduced during its existence as well as the changes that took place in governance systems, which also led to changes in the Audit Bureau's objectives, terms of reference and affiliation. Among the most significant changes were the following:

THE MONARCHICAL PERIOD FROM 1952 TO 1969

 * The Libyan Audit Bureau was established by Law 31 of 1955.
 * The promulgation of Law 22 of 1962 amending Law 31 of 1955.
 * The promulgation of a Royal Decree organizing the Audit Bureau by Law 22 of 1966.

THE FORMER REGIME'S ERA FROM 1969 TO 2011

 * The law on the Audit Bureau was amended by Law 79 of 1975.
 * Merging the Audit and Administrative Control Bureau and the Monitoring Authority into a single entity under the name of People's Monitoring Agency in accordance with Law 16 of 1986.
 * Abolishing the People's Monitoring Agency and establishing the People's Inspection and Supervision Body under Law 11 of 1996.
 * Amending the Law on People' s Inspection and Control Authority under Law 30 of 2000.
 * Abolishing the merging of control bodies with Law 13 of 2003 by passing a number of provisions relating to inspection and popular control, according to which the control powers were divided between the financial and technical control body, and the inspection and popular control body.
 * Abolishing the Financial and Technical Control Authority and assigning the mandate for contract review, payments and investigations to the People' s Inspection and Control Authority, with the remaining competencies to be vested in the Financial Control Authority established by Resolution 5 of 2006 of the General People's Congress.
 * The promulgation of Law 2 of 2007 on the reorganization of the People's Inspection and Control Authority to carry out the duties of the former People's Control Authority, including the terms of reference relating to financial performance control, as well as pre-contractual monitoring and investigations.
 * The promulgation of Law 3 of 2007 on the financial audit, to perform the role of financial auditing body.

SINCE THE FEBRUARY 2011 REVOLUTION TO DATE

 * On August 14, 2011, the National Transitional Council issued Resolution 119 of 2011 establishing the Libyan Audit Bureau for the second time by merging the control bodies represented by the People' s Inspection and Control and Financial Control bodies within the Bureau; and through this decision, Law 11 of 1996 was reinstated- thus abolishing laws 2 & 3 of 2007 on the regulatory authorities.
 * On August 1, 2013, the National General Congress promulgated Law 19 of 2013 reorganizing the Audit Bureau and assigning the mandates of administrative control, complaints and investigation to a new body created under Law 20 of 2013.
 * On April 10, 2013, Law 24 of 2013 was promulgated amending Law 19 of 2013, which removed the competence to scrutinize contracts subject to screening prior to the awarding process.

OBJECTIVES
The Audit Bureau's main objective is to ensure effective control of public funds and ascertain their proper use and disposal by reviewing and scrutinizing financial statements and assessing the performance of all bodies subject to its control. The Bureau's work also includes the following other objectives: o	Verifying the adequacy of manual and electronic internal control systems, the security of financial transactions, accounting restrictions and financial reports in accordance with applicable legislation. o	Identifying deficiencies and loopholes in applicable laws, regulations and by-laws. o	Detecting financial irregularities in the bodies subject to its control. o	Assessing the performance of the entities subject to its control and verifying the use of resources in an economic, efficient and effective way. o	Improving transparency and strengthening its principles in public institutions and providing specialized financial and accounting advisory services.

TERMS OF REFERENCE
In accordance with international standards, the law vests the Audit Bureau with the competence to carry out systemic oversight, performance observation as well as preventive or pre-emptive oversight. The Audit Bureau exercises formal control, both financial and legal, by reviewing and auditing the accounts, financial statements and other technical operations of the bodies subject to its control. This is to ensure the implementation of laws, decisions and financial regulations relating to the unit under control or review, in addition to other precautionary duties to protect public money, notably: (Applying controls that ensure the collection of public revenues and identifying deficiencies or negligence in their collection, preventing the disposition of the accounts of the bodies subject to its control if it is proved that there have been actions that have caused damage to public funds, and it may examine and review and other auditing functions). The Libyan Audit Bureau also exercises the power of performance audit by reviewing and assessing the performance of the entities subject to its control to determine their efficiency and effectiveness in carrying out their activities and to ensure that their programs and projects are managed scientifically and economically and that they achieve the objectives set for them and that these entities have used their financial resources in the activities and tasks assigned to them efficiently. The law stipulates the need to consider the Audit Bureau's observations and recommendations to correct deficiencies and inadequacies in the management of public funds. If the observations identified by the Audit Bureau prove a state of mismanagement or failure resulting in waste of public funds, financial irregularities or criminal offences, then files will be prepared and referred to the competent authorities to complete investigative procedures.

BODIES SUBJECT TO THE CONTROL OF THE AUDIT BUREAU
The following bodies are subject to the control of the Audit Bureau:
 * All units belonging to the administrative apparatus of the State, which are represented in the Council of Ministers, ministries, all public bodies, departments, institutions, agencies, offices of the State and others, in addition to Libyan embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions abroad, whether or not their laws stipulate a special system of review.
 * Companies, projects, corporations, entities, institutions or public bodies with a minimum of 25% of their capital contributed by the State, as well as those to which the government has granted the privilege of operating a public facility or exploiting a natural wealth resource.
 * Independent bodies supported and guaranteed by the government, such as funds, authorities and institutions of public interest, such as:
 * 1) The Economic Development Fund and its affiliates.
 * 2) The Pension Management Fund and the Solidarity Fund.
 * 3) Freedom and Human Rights Council.
 * 4) Trade unions and labor unions.
 * 5) Establishments and cooperative associations of public institutions.
 * Projects whose owners receive direct grants and loans from the government, if the loan contract stipulates that they are subject to scrutiny by the Audit Board.
 * Any other body subject to its control by a decision of the legislative authority or at the request of the government.

AUDIT BUREAU'S ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
The Audit Board shall consist of a Chairman and one or more deputies as well as a sufficient number of members and staff. The conditions and procedures for the appointment of the Chairman and deputies shall be governed by the legislative authority.

DUTIES OF THE AUDIT BUREAU’S CHAIRMAN
The Chairman shall manage the Bureau, supervise its work and take the necessary measures in this regard. His duties include:
 * 1) Developing general policies governing the Audit Bureau.
 * 2) Establishing  the general strategy of the Audit Bureau, setting out the plans, programs and methods necessary for carrying out the audit work and monitoring its implementation.
 * 3) Preparing the draft annual budget as well as the final accounting of the Bureau.
 * 4) Establishing and approving the organizational structure and defining the terms of reference of the various administrative divisions.
 * 5) Issuing administrative, organizational and financial regulations and amendments thereto.
 * 6) Approving programs, projects and cooperation agreements with other parties.
 * 7) Supervision and periodic follow-up of the Audit Bureau's work.
 * 8) Representing the Audit Bureau in its relations with others and before the courts.
 * 9) Forming committees in order to carry out work and tasks that require such action both internally and externally.
 * 10) Appointing specialists to carry out various consultancy tasks.
 * 11) Deciding on the appointment of directors of general departments, offices and branches, and directors of sub-departments, heads of departments, as well as designating all other supervisory positions.

DUTIES OF THE AUDIT BUREAU’S DEPUTY CHAIRMAN
The deputy shall assist the chairman in managing the Audit Bureau in addition to any other duties that may be assigned to him and shall also assume the duties of the chairman in his absence or if something prevents him from carrying out his functions without the need for written authorization, and if more than one deputy is appointed to the Audit Bureau, the legislative power shall determine the powers and duties assigned to each deputy based on a proposal by the chairman.

THE AUDIT BUREAU'S ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE
The Audit Bureau's administrative structure is composed of departments and technical and service offices. Their names, general divisions and subdivisions as well as their specializations and managers are determined by decision of the Audit Bureau's Chairman.

LAWS GOVERNING THE AUDIT BUREAU
The Audit Bureau operates in accordance with the terms of reference entrusted to it pursuant to Law 19 of 2013 on its reorganization, which was subsequently amended by Law 24 of 2013.

EXECUTIVE REGULATION
The executive regulation of Law 19 of 2013 was issued pursuant to resolution 27 of 2015 of the National General Congress.

THE AUDIT BUREAU BRANCHES
The Audit Bureau has branches, offices and units in different regions of Libya, with their locations, specializations, managers as well as structures to be determined by decision of the AB’s Chairman.

THE AUDIT BUREAU’S REPORTS
The Audit Bureau prepares and submits reports reflecting the outcomes of its work, based on the law and the guidelines set out by the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI):
 * 1) An annual report on the outcomes of its work which includes its observations and recommendations on its regular audits and assessment of the performance and commitment of the past year, provided that this report is submitted to the legislative authority and a copy of it to the Council of Ministers within three months of the end of the year.
 * 2) A report on the outcomes of the State's final accounting audit, which includes a review of the financial transactions, reconciliation of balances, level of disclosure and analysis related to the accounting, in addition to any areas of disagreement between it and the Ministry of Finance and various other entities. This report shall be submitted to the State Legislative Authority and a copy thereof to the Council of Ministers and the Minister of Finance no later than four months after receipt of the final accounting.
 * 3) A report on the follow-up of the implementation of the projects of the development plan and their annual budgets and verifying their good implementation.
 * 4) Reports on the scrutiny of the budgets and final statements of the bodies subject to its control and with independent budgets, whether financed by sovereign royalties under special laws or self-financed by their activities. These reports shall be submitted to the boards of directors of these bodies and to their general assemblies, and the Audit Bureau may summarize these reports and compile them into a full report that shall be submitted to the legislative authority and the Council of Ministers or include them in the annual general report.
 * 5) Any other report requested from the legislative authority or the Bureau considers important to be submitted to any party.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
The Audit Bureau endeavors to build strong and constructive relationships with the bodies subject to its control and always seeks to broaden joint cooperation with professional audit bodies and organizations in various countries, most notably the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), the African Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (AFROSAI) and the Arab Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (ARABOSAI). The Audit Bureau aims, through this, to: 1. Exchange of opinions, ideas, experiences, studies and research in the field of financial control among member institutions and strive to raise the level of financial control both in practical and applied areas. 2. Provide the necessary assistance to countries wishing to develop their existing systems. 3. Work to standardize scientific terminology among member organizations in the field of financial control. 4. Raise awareness of financial auditing in the Arab world to help strengthen the role of audit agencies in carrying out their tasks. 5. Organize and support cooperation between member institutions and specialized bodies and organizations of the League of Arab States as well as the international organizations of the supreme financial control bodies.