The ''Cour des Comptes'' ("Court of Accounts") is

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

's supreme audit institution, under French law an

administrative court An administrative court is a type of court specializing in administrative law, particularly disputes concerning the exercise of public power. Their role is to ascertain that official acts are consistent with the law. Such courts are considered s ...

. As such, it is

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

from the

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and

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...

branches of the French Government. However, the 1946 and 1958 French constitutions made it the Court's duty to assist the Cabinet and Parliament in regulating government spending. The Court thus combines functions of a court of exchequer, comptroller general's office, and

auditor general An auditor general, also known in some countries as a comptroller general or comptroller and auditor general, is a senior civil servant charged with improving government accountability by auditing and reporting on the government's operations. Freq ...

's office in common-law countries. It is also a

Grand Corps of the French State Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commun ...

and mainly recruits among the best-ranked students graduating from the Ecole nationale d'administration. The Court traces its origins back to the Middle Ages and views itself as succeeding the

Court of Auditors The European Court of Auditors (ECA; French: ''Cour des comptes européenne'') is one of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU). It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg in order to improve EU financial management. It has 27 members ( ...

of Paris, permanently established in the early 14th century. It was re-established in 1807 by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. Its three duties are to conduct financial audits of accounts, conduct

good governance Good governance is the process of measuring how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources and guarantee the realization of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption and with due regard for th ...

audits, and provide information and advice to the French

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

and Administration. The Court verifies the good form of accounting and the proper handling of public money. Its mandate covers most public institutions and some private institutions, including the central Government, national public corporations,

social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

agencies (since 1950), and other

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(since 1976).

History

Plaque Cour des comptes, ancien palais d'Orsay, Paris 7e

Plaques Cour des Comptes, Péristyle de Chartres, Paris 1

During the

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

, the Court of Auditors was located in the French monarchy's ancestral

Palais de la Cité The Palais de la Cité (), located on the Île de la Cité in the Seine River in the centre of Paris, is a major historic building that was the residence of the Kings of France from the sixth century until the 14th century, and has been the center ...

, between the

Sainte-Chapelle The Sainte-Chapelle (; en, Holy Chapel) is a royal chapel in the Gothic style, within the medieval Palais de la Cité, the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century, on the Île de la Cité in the River Seine in Paris, France. Co ...

and the

Conciergerie The Conciergerie () ( en, Lodge) is a former courthouse and prison in Paris, France, located on the west of the Île de la Cité, below the Palais de Justice. It was originally part of the former royal palace, the Palais de la Cité, which also ...

. In 1740 it moved to a new building in the same complex, designed by

Jacques Gabriel Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

, which is no longer extant. The Cour des Comptes was reorganized by

through the Law of September 16th 1807. In 1842, it eventually moved away from the

Île de la Cité Île de la Cité (; English: City Island) is an island in the river Seine in the center of Paris. In the 4th century, it was the site of the fortress of the Roman governor. In 508, Clovis I, the first King of the Franks, established his palace ...

into the

Palais d'Orsay Palais () may refer to: * Dance hall, popularly a ''palais de danse'', in the 1950s and 1960s in the UK * ''Palais'', French for palace ** Grand Palais, the Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées **Petit Palais, an art museum in Paris * Palais River in ...

. In May 1871 at the end of the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...

, the Palais d'Orsay was entirely destroyed by fire and the Cour des Comptes was temporarily relocated in the

Palais-Royal The Palais-Royal () is a former royal palace located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Cardinal, it was built for Cardinal ...

. Its relocation in the of the

Louvre Palace The Louvre Palace (french: link=no, Palais du Louvre, ), often referred to simply as the Louvre, is an iconic French palace located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, occupying a vast expanse of land between the Tuileries Ga ...

was considered but only some of its archives were moved there, and in 1897 the Marsan Wing was attributed to what is now the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Instead, it was decided to build a new office specifically for the Cour des Comptes. The new building on was designed by architect Constant Moyaux, and after the latter's death in October 1911 by , on the site of a former convent whose church survives nearby as Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption. It was inaugurated in 1912 by President

Armand Fallières Clément Armand Fallières (; 6 November 1841 – 22 June 1931) was a French statesman who was President of France from 1906 to 1913. He was born at Mézin in the ''département'' of Lot-et-Garonne, France, where his father was clerk of th ...

. The Cour des Comptes remains located there after more than a century.

Composition

The president (''premier président'') of the Court of Audit is appointed by Order-in-Council of the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

. Once appointed, the president of the Court and division presidents have security of tenure. The Court has its own

Office of the Prosecutor An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific dut ...

- with a Chief Prosecutor, Chief Deputy Prosecutor, and two deputy prosecutors - that represents the Government before the Court. The Court is split into seven divisions, each with nearly 30 judges ordinary and deputy judges and headed by a division president. Jurisdiction is split between the seven divisions generally by subject matter, e.g., finance, health and social security, and so forth. The Court's president is

Pierre Moscovici Pierre Moscovici (, ; born 16 September 1957) is a French politician who served as the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs from 2014 to 2019. He previously served as Minister of Finance from 2012 to 20 ...

since june 2020. He took over

Didier Migaud Didier Migaud (born 6 June 1952) was president of the French Court of Audit from 2010 to 2020, and member of the National Assembly of France from 1988 to 2010. Migaud represented Isère's 4th constituency in the National Assembly of France fr ...

who himself took over in 2010 following the death of

Philippe Séguin Philippe Séguin (21 April 1943 – 7 January 2010) was a French political figure who was President of the National Assembly from 1993 to 1997 and President of the Cour des Comptes of France from 2004 to 2010. He entered the Court of Financi ...

. Other judicial officers are generally split into three groups by rank: * puisne judges (''conseillers-maîtres'') **consider, hear, and adjudicate cases in panels * deputy judges (''conseillers référendaires'') **divided into 2 classes; handle case management * Auditor- Masters (''auditeurs'') **divided into 2 classes; preside over hearings, collect evidence, audit, and report All judicial officers are graduates from the National Administration Academy (''École nationale d'Administration'') or recruited from the Office of the Comptroller-General (''inspection générale des Finances'').

Jurisdiction and duties

Original jurisdiction

The French Court of Audit has original jurisdiction to audit and adjudicate accounts made by public, management, and government accountants. The Court also has authority to audit persons acting but not certified as a public accountant. If an account is found to be correct, then the Court issues a quietus to discharge the accountant. If, however, the account is found to be in error, then a debit order is issued against the defaulter. Either order is subject to appeal in the Court or final appeal at the French Supreme Court. Audits focus on: * Government accounting, budgets, and funds * Public corporations * National and public institutions, social security organizations, subsidiaries and sub-subsidiaries of public corporations * Government-funded organizations * Publicly funded organizations

Appellate jurisdiction

A decision from a lower audit court may be appealed at the main Court of Audit within two months of its being handed down. Afterwards, if the parties are still not satisfied, the Council of State will hear the case on final appeal. The French Court of Audit puts together its auditing program entirely independently and is vested with very broad powers of review and examination. It publishes and submits an annual audit report to the French President and to Parliament. The report provides a detailed account of the government's poor, or possibly fraudulent, practices and criticizes poor governance and use of public funds. The Court also audits authorizing officers (''

ordonnateur An ''ordonnateur'' or ''commissaire-ordonnateur'' in the French colonial era was responsible for fiscal matters in a colony, as opposed to the governor, who was responsible for the military. The relationship between the two heads was often tense. ...

s'') and their expenditures.

Audit procedure

In addition to reporting poor practices, the Court judges the accounting of public financial and budgetary officials, collection agencies, or treasury departments, e.g., treasurers, paymasters-general, tax collectors, certified public accountants, and can

fine Fine may refer to: Characters * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (penalty), money to be paid as punishment for an offe ...

them for late reporting. In such cases, the Court fines public accounting officials for the exact amount of any sum of money that, due to an error on their part, they have unduly paid or failed to recover on behalf of the State. A debet (''débet''), from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

"he owes" and not limited in amount, is entered against a defaulting person, and the defaulter becomes the State's debtor. Public and government accountants must therefore have performance liability insurance. Often, however, the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Eco ...

alleviates a defaulter by granting an abatement of his arrears as the full amount is likely too much to ever pay out of pocket. If an account is audited and found not to be in default, then the Court issues a quietus (''arrêt de quitus'' or ''arrêt de décharge'') acquitting and discharging the official and settling the account.

Regional audit courts

The Court of Audit of France stands above and heads 27 regional inferior financial courts referred to in French as ''Chambres régionales des comptes'', or regional audit courts. The Court of Audit acts as the administrative head and court of appeal for the financial stream, hearing appeals from regional courts and issuing rule promulgation orders and administrative directives. Regional audit courts were established in 1982 to help unburden the main Court of Audit of its heavy caseload. Since their creation, they have original jurisdiction for most local, county, and regional accounting matters in continental France and its overseas dependencies. This means they audit accounts as well as public institutions to check for fraud, embezzlement, or misappropriation. In case of budgetary discrepancies, the Court can ask the local prefect to intervene and oversee the handling of public funds until budget problems have been corrected. Each court is divided into divisions and includes a judge-in-Charge - who is also either a puisne or deputy judge at the main Court of Audit - and two associate judges. Judges have security of tenure and some also serve as Commissioners-in-Council with prosecutorial duties under the Office of the Prosecutor at the Court of Audit of France. The regional courts focus on: * budgetary audits and assessment of local public institutions' budget use and management * audits of institutions and agencies in a given regional jurisdiction, namely: public institutions (schools, public housing, hospitals) or groups funded or aided by local governments or public institutions (unions or trade associations) * efficiency evaluations of account management Accounts found to be in error are entered into debit and accounts in default or fictitious are referred to the local prefect. Accounts for towns of fewer than 3,500 inhabitants and receipts totalling less than 750,000 euros are automatically referred to the local county or regional treasurer. A regional audit court's ruling may be appealed in the same court or to the Court of Audit of France.Héraud and Maurin, op. cit., 84.

Individuals

First Presidents

Liste des premiers présidents de la Cour des comptes

François Barbé-Marbois François Barbé-Marbois, marquis de Barbé-Marbois (31 January 1745 – 12 February 1837) was a French politician. Early career Born in Metz, where his father was director of the local mint, Barbé-Marbois tutored the children of the Marquis d ...

(1807-1834, with brief interruption in 1815) *

Jean-Baptiste Collin de Sussy Jean-Baptiste Collin de Sussy (1 January 1750 – 7 July 1826) was a senior official and politician. During the First French Empire he was Director-General of Customs, then Minister of Industry and Commerce. Life Collin de Sussy was the receiver ...

(March-June 1815) *

Félix Barthe Félix Barthe (28 July 1795 – 28 February 1863) was a French lawyer, Deputy, Minister of Public Education and then Minister of Justice. He was the first President of the Court of Accounts (1834–37, 1839–63) and became a Senator of the Second ...

(1834-1837 and 1839-1863) * Joseph Jérôme Siméon (1837-1839) * Ernest de Royer (1863-1877) * Jules-Joseph Petitjean (1877-1880) * (1880-1889) * (1890-1894) * Ernest Boulanger (1894-1900) * (1900-1901) * (1901-1907) *

Charles François Laurent Charles François Laurent (12 November 1856 – 16 February 1939) was a French senior civil servant, specializing in finance. He was president of the Cour des comptes (Court of Audit). After taking early retirement at the age of 53 he became a busi ...

(1907-1909) * (1909-1912) * (1912-1933) * (1933) * Maurice Chotard (1933-1936) * (1936-1937) * (1937-1940) * Jean-Marcel Drouineau (1940-1946) * (1946-1948) * Pierre Brin (1948-1952) * Édouard Parent (1952-1955) * (1955-1959) * André d'Estresse de Lanzac de Laborie (1959-1970) * Lucien Paye (1970-1972) * (1972-1978) * (1978-1982) * Jean Rosenwald (1982-1983) * (1983-1990) *

Pierre Arpaillange Pierre Arpaillange (13 March 1924 – 11 January 2017) was a French author, senior judge and Government Minister. Career After obtaining his law degree, Arpaillange began a judicial career in 1949. He became ''Secrétaire Général du Parquet d ...

(1990-1993) *

Pierre Joxe Pierre Joxe, Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, KBE (; born 28 November 1934) is a former France, French Socialist Party (France), Socialist politician and has been a member of the Constitutional Council of Fran ...

(1993-2001) * (2001-2004) *

(2004-2010) *

(2010-2020) *

(2020-present)

Other notable members or former members

Bernard Attali Bernard Attali (born 1943) is a French business executive, political advisor and one-time novelist. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Air France from 1988 to 1993. He is a senior advisor to TPG Capital and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. ...

François d'Aubert François d'Aubert (born 31 October 1943, in Boulogne-Billancourt) is a French politician. He is an auditor at the Court of Audit. From 2002, he was minister delegate to research in Jean-Pierre Raffarin's government. From 26 July 2007 to 16 ...

David Azéma David Azéma (born 22 November 1960) is a French businessman, and a former chairman and chief executive of Eurostar from 1999 to 2002; he worked with the French government's Agence des participations de l'État, and is chairman of Global Infras ...

* Dominique Baert * Julien Bargeton *

Claire Bazy-Malaurie Claire Bazy-Malaurie (born 14 April 1949) is a member of the Constitutional Council of France.Décision parue au J.O. du 2 septembre : http://admi.net/nor/?code=HRUX1022863S Bazy-Malaurie is president of the Venice Commission The Venice Commi ...

Jean-Louis Bourlanges Jean-Louis Bourlanges (born 13 July 1946) is a French politician who has represented the 12th constituency of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the National Assembly since 2017. A member of the Democratic Movement (MoDem), he has presided over the ...

Jean Castex Jean Castex (; born 25 June 1965) is a French politician who was the country's Prime Minister from 3 July 2020 to 16 May 2022. He was a member of The Republicans (LR) until 2020, when he joined La République En Marche! (LREM). Castex served fo ...

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...

Charles de Courson Charles- Amédée de Courson (born 2 April 1952 in Paris - 16th arrondissement) is a member of the National Assembly of France and a former 'rapporteur', and current secretary of its Finance Commission. He represents the Marne department, a ...

Marie-France Garaud Marie-France Garaud (born 3 March 1934) is a French politician. She was a private advisor for President Pompidou and Jacques Chirac during his first time as Prime Minister. In the 1970s, she was considered to be the most influential woman of Fr ...

Jean de Gaulle Jean de Gaulle (born 13 June 1953) is a French politician. He is the son of Philippe de Gaulle Philippe Henri Xavier Antoine de Gaulle (born 28 December 1921) is a French retired admiral and senator. He is the eldest child and only son of G ...

Brigitte Girardin Brigitte Girardin (born 12 January 1953 in Verdun, Meuse, France) is a French diplomat and politician. She was the minister of Overseas France under Jacques Chirac from 7 May 2002 to 2 June 2005. Biography In 1976, Girardin first worked for the ...

Henri Guaino Henri Guaino (born 11 March 1957) is a French speechwriter and politician who served as the member of the National Assembly (France), National Assembly for the Yvelines's 3rd constituency, 3rd constituency of Yvelines from 2012 to 2017. A membe ...

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from ...

Alain Lamassoure Alain Lamassoure (born 10 February 1944 in Pau) is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament for the south-west of France. He was a member of Les Républicains, which is part of the European People's Party, and was the chairman o ...

* Alain Lambert *

Dominique Lefebvre Dominique Lefebvre is a French politician. He was the first deputy for Val-d'Oise's 10th constituency, which was established in the 2010 redistricting of French legislative constituencies. He served from 2012 until 2017. References Liv ...

Alain Le Roy Alain Le Roy (; born 5 February 1953) is a French diplomat who served as Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) between 1 March 2015 and 31 August 2016. In this capacity, he was in charge of around 3,400 staff and around ...

Bernadette Malgorn Bernadette Malgorn (born 19 June 1951 in Nantes, Loire-Atlantique) is a French civil servant and politician. She is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). Born to military parents originally from Finistère, Bernadette Malgorn com ...

* Juliette Méadel * Étienne Pflimlin *

Bruno Racine Bruno Racine (born 17 December 1951 in Paris) is a French civil servant and writer. Early life and education Racine is the son of Pierre Racine (a conseiller d'État) and Edwina Morgulis, Bruno Racine was born in Paris. He studied at the Éco ...

Rémy Rioux Rémy Rioux (born 1969) is a French high-ranking civil servant. He serves as the chief executive of the French Development Agency. Early life Rémy Rioux was born on 26 June 1969 in Neuilly-sur-Seine near Paris. He graduated from the École Norm ...

Jean-Pierre Soisson Jean-Pierre Soisson (born 9 November 1934) is a French politician of the Union for a Popular Movement. He was a deputy in the National Assembly of France for the first district of Yonne for several terms between 1968 and 2012; mayor of Auxerre ...

Emmanuelle Wargon Emmanuelle Wargon ( ''née'' Stoléru; born 24 February 1971) is a French civil servant, politician and former lobbyist who has been serving as president of the French Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) since 2022. During her political career ...

Notes

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Court Of Audit Of France Government of France comptes 01

Supreme audit institutions 1807 establishments in France Courts and tribunals established in 1807