PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY - Inter-Parliamentary Union

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An effective parliament (I): The national level I 145 ment of performance targets, within much broader budgetary categories. The French budgetary reform of 2001 provides an example of this shift: This new nomenclature is at the same time aimed at giving the managers more room for manoeuvre (as they can make freer use of allocations within their programmes) and to make possible oversight of government action aimed at the objectives and results of the policies funded by the state budget. Results-based budgeting is supposed to make it possible to move from a culture based on means to one based on performance assessment. In carrying out their financial monitoring, most parliaments are assisted by the office of an independent Auditor General, whose role is to audit all government accounts, including in many countries the accounts of public corporations and non-governmental bodies spending public money. In Malta, for example, the mandate of the Auditor General, whose appointment requires approval by at least two thirds of Members of Parliament, prescribes ‘a full annual financial and compliance audit of all Government Offices and other public entities’. In an Act of 1997 this mandate was extended to include: independent advisory and investigative powers; examination of any matter concerning the use of public funds; performance/value for money evaluation audits of Government Offices and public entities and companies where Government is a major shareholder. These audits are conducted on NAO’s initiative, upon request by the Public Accounts Committee, or as requested by the Minister of Finance. In the Republic of Korea, the lack of an independent organisation to assist the National Assembly in its monitoring of government accounts was rectified in 2003 by the establishment of a National Assembly Budget Office directly under the Speaker. The National Assembly Budget Office consists of around 80 non-partisan experts where they not only analyze budget and accounts but also calculate costs arising from the formulation or amendment of bills including that of the legislative. Through NABO, the National Assembly can help keep legislative activities within a reasonable cost boundary preventing the enactment or amendment of bills that could impose an excessive burden on the national budget.
146 I PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY Specific systems to prevent corruption are an important element in monitoring government expenditure in many countries. The South African Public Finance Management Act of 1999, for example, holds senior officials of government departments accountable for the misuse of public money, forcing them to ‘put in place systems and controls in their departments that would prevent abuse of state money. The Act also places an obligation on all government departments to design and submit anti-corruption and fraud strategies to the Treasury within stipulated time frames.’ A number of countries also have independent Anti-Corruption Commissions with investigatory and enforcement powers, which report to parliament, reinforcing the work of the Auditor General and Public Accounts Committee. Further online reading about scrutiny of public accounts and anti-corruption strategies: Global Organization of Parliamentarians against Corruption (2005). Controlling corruption: a parliamentarian’s handbook. Global Organization of Parliamentarians against Corruption Inter-Parliamentary Union (2001). The role of parliaments in the fight against corruption. Pelizzo, R., Sahgal, V., Stapenhurst, R., Woodley, W. (2005). Scrutinizing public expenditures: assessing the performance of public accounts committees. World Bank Promoting national integration through democratic processes Among the most important but least noticed work of parliaments is promoting national integration through their support for democratic processes and institutions throughout a country’s territory. In a number of countries this is a specific function of an Upper House, most obviously in federal political
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2. A representative parliament The
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Electoral systems A representative
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Election rules and procedures to en
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Foreign Affairs in the Norwegian St
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A representative parliament I 33 ca
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ment to following through a process
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4. An accessible parliament The pre
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■ the fixed office; An accessible
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■ collaborating with NGOs in loca
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ned against excessive reductions in
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An accessible parliament I 81 estab
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Extract from handbook on ‘Making
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■ a public record available on li
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case in Switzerland, the country wi
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An accessible parliament I 93 since
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Page 150 and 151: A case-study of oversight: security
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3. Technology assessment. This has
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Australia Austria Belarus Belgium B
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Organization’s programmes aimed a
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MS. MARTA LAGOS CRUZ-COKE Executive
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MS. DULCE MARIA SAURI RIANCHO Membe
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Commonwealth Parliamentary Associat
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Non-governmental organisations Cent
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Index Note: Page numbers in bold in
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types of, 8, 15-17, 69 voter partic
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Myanmar, 176 Namibia, 77, 110 Natio
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Sweden, 63, 75, 110, 112, 165 gende
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