Duties, entitlements, and responsibility of chief of the audit delegation in Vietnam

Duties, entitlements, and responsibility of chief of the audit delegation in Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. Standards applied to chief of an audit delegation in Vietnam

According to Clause 1, Article 38 of the Law on State Audit Office of Vietnam 2015 (amended 2019), the chief, deputy chief of an audit delegation must:

- Have professional skills, managerial skills, and working experience appropriate for given tasks;

- Be main auditors holding the position of deputy department manager or higher, or auditors holding the position of department managers or higher.

2. Duties, entitlements, and responsibility of chief of the audit delegation in Vietnam

2.1. Duties of chief of the audit delegationin Vietnam

Specifically, in Clause 1, Article 39 of the Law on State Audit Office of Vietnam 2015 (amended 2019), the chief of the audit delegation has the following duties:

- Organize performance of audit tasks under the audit decision;

- Approve plans for inspection and comparison carried out at entities relevant to governmental auditing activities, and notify the chief auditor prior to implementation thereof; approve audit records of auditor teams; prepare the audit reports, audit result notifications, notifications of SAV’s conclusions and requests;

Report and explain the audit result to the chief auditor; cooperate with the chief auditor to report and explain the audit result to State Auditor General; notify the audit result approved by State Auditor General to the audited unit; sign the audit report;

- Manage members of the audit delegation according to regulations of State Auditor General;

- Make periodic or extraordinary reports at the request of the chief auditor on the implementation of the audit plan and progress of audit activities.

2.2. Entitlements of chief of the audit delegation in Vietnam

The chief of the audit delegation has the entitlements:

- Request the audited unit to provide necessary information/documents and explain the issues related to the audit contents; request inventory check and comparison of debts of the audited unit if they are related to the audit contents;

- Request entities relevant to governmental auditing activities to provide information and documents related to the audit contents in order to collect audit evidence;

- Suggest the chief auditor to advise State Auditor General deciding inspection of accounts of the audited unit or relevant individuals at credit institutions or State Treasury as prescribed by law; seal documents of the audited unit in case of violations against regulations of law, changing, moving, hiding, destroying documents related to the audit contents;

- Request the deputy chief of the audit delegation, team leaders, and members of the audit delegation to report the audit results; if there are dissenting opinions about the audit result, the chief of the audit delegation shall make a decision and take responsibility for such decision, the report the dissenting opinions to the chief auditor;

- Preserve his/her opinions if they are different from the assessment, confirmation, and opinions in the audit report;

- Suggest the chief auditor to advise State Auditor General requesting a competent authority to take actions against violations against regulations of law committed by the audited unit;

- Suspend performance of team leaders and inferior members of the audit delegation if they are suspected of violating Clause 1 Article 8 of of the Law on State Audit Office of Vietnam 2015 (amended 2019).

- When carrying out an audit, access, exploit or authorize a members of the audit delegation in writing to access or exploit national database and electronic data of audited units and entities relevant to governmental auditing activities so as to collect information and documents directly related to contents and scope of audits under the supervision by the audited units and entities relevant to governmental auditing activities;

Comply with regulations of law upon data access and take responsibility for ensuring confidentiality and safety of data in accordance with regulations of law.

(Clause 2, Article 39 of the Law on State Audit Office of Vietnam 2015 (amended 2019))

2.3. Responsibility of chief of the audit delegation in Vietnam

According to Clause 3, Article 39 of the Law on State Audit Office of Vietnam 2015 (amended 2019), the chief of the audit delegation has the responsibility to:

- Take responsibility for the operation of the audit delegation to the chief auditor;

- Take legal responsibility for the legitimacy, truthfulness, and objectiveness of the assessment, confirmation, and opinions in the audit report;

- Take joint responsibility for violations against regulations of law on audit activities committed by members of the audit delegation; take responsibility for the decisions to suspend team leaders and inferior members of the audit delegation.

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