EUROSAI. Magazine N21 - 2015

EUROPEAN ORGANISATION OF SUPREME AUDIT INSTITUTIONS REPORTS AND STUDIES 133 www.eurosai.org · N.º 21 - 2015 effectively with a centralized structure. That is why, in 1925, a new Law on the Supreme Court of Accounts and the district courts of account which were functioning in regions and administrative districts was adopted. With the amendmnent of the Act in 1934, the district offices were closed and regional offices were set up. The Supreme Court of Accounts and the regional offices were authorised to control the total execution of the state budget, the budgets of all town and village municipalities, the regional permanent commissions, the city and village school boards of governers, church and religeous institutions and all state autonomous and public organisations and charities. In additon to the ex ante and ex post control, they conducted substantive tests and on-the-spot checks as well. The courts of acounts of the European states at that time did not have such broad competences. The Supreme Court of Accounts became an instance of cassation in the place of the High Court of Cassation. A special court was established within the Supreme Court of Accounts whose decisions were final. The Court was granted consultative functions – it provided an opinion on the application and interpretation of statutory texts and regulations in general and on specific cases. On the eve of World War II in March 1939, the Bulgarian Parliament adopted the Law on the incurring, discharge and control of army expenditure in the time of war. In each Bulgarian army a mulitary court of audit was set up representing a section of the Supreme Court of Accounts. Their task was to do a final examination of the army expenditures in the time of war. The Supreme Court of Accounts functioned until the end of 1947 when it was dissolved. The regional offices were subsequently closed down in 1948. An attempt to re-establish the Supreme Court of Accounts was made in the first years of the transition period to democracy and market economy. The Seventh Great National Assembly at its last session on 2nd October 1991 adopted the National Audit Office Act. The President of the Republic used his power of veto and returned the act for further consideration but meanwhile the National Assembly was dissolved. On 27th July 1995, the 37th National Assembly adopted the National Audit Office Act with which the traditions of the budgetary control in Bulgaria were reinstated. The first board of the institution was elected the same year. Nowadays the National Audit Office consists of president, two vice-presidents and two On the occasion of the 135th anniversary and 20 years from the reestablishment of the Bulgarian National Audit Office a photo exhibition was opened in July this year in the National Assembly dedicated to the two anniversaries. On the photo the President of the Bulgarian National Audit Office presents the President of the National Assembly with the symbol of the institution - falcon stepped over a cliff of coins protecting the national treasury. Tzvetan Tzvetkov expressed his wishes to Ms. Tsetska Tsacheva the National Assembly to take wise decisions related to the sound management and control of the public finances Nowadays the National Audit Office consists of president, two vice-presidents and two members, representatives of the Institute of Chartered Accounts and the Institute of Internal Auditors