According to the amended Act, the new organisational structure of the NIK is to comprise departments, regional branches and offices. New offices will replace departments that perform tasks related to the organisation and functioning of the NIK. The name ‘departament’ will be restricted only to units that perform or support audits*. The new organisational structure will be set out in the Statutes of the NIK, to be granted by the Speaker of the lower chamber of the Polish Parliament, after being approved by the Parliamentary Committee on State Auditing on 8 June.
The amended Act obliges the NIK to present the Parliament with information on how the NIK’s proposals related to changes in the law, formulated as a result of audits, are used in practice. As while doing their job, NIK auditors frequently observe irregularities resulting from imprecise legal regulations or loopholes in the law. Therefore, the NIK regularly elaborates the so called de lege ferenda proposals, aimed at closing loopholes and eliminating contradictory regulations. In accordance with the new Act, the NIK is also tasked with informing the Parliament how the addresses of such proposals approach them and whether the proposed changes in the law have been introduced.
Another change stipulated by the amended Act is concerned with resolutions by the Council of the NIK (Polish: Kolegium NIK) that are adopted by secret ballot. So far, in the case of an equal number of votes for and against, the decision would be taken by the Chair of the Council, which was incompliant with the principle of secret voting. That is why, starting from 2 June 2011, resolutions will not be adopted without the majority of votes.
The amendment Act on the NIK also introduces several other changes, such as fixed terms of office for directors, external auditing and new rules for making information on audit results available to the pubic.
Supreme Audit Office Act (PDF file)
* The basic organisational unit in Polish ministries and other central offices is usually called ”a department” (Polish: departament). ”An office” (Polish: biuro) is the name usually used for a smaller unit, either being part of a department, or being a separate unit, usually designed to carry out auxiliary tasks (not related directly to the subject matter of the ministry’s activity).
