Annual accounts, auditing and control
Annual accounts
Submission of the Economic and Financial activity of the CGPJ to the principles of legality, efficiency and economy
The economic and financial activity of the CGPJ, as a constitutional body, has been submitted and, since its establishment, in addition to the standard management audits of any State body and internal control on the part of the Comptroller, has always been under the control of the National Audit Office, as the supreme regulatory agency of State accounts and economic activity.
The Comptroller of the Council, as the internal control body, carries out the prior audit of all actions, documents and files which may incur liabilities or debts of an economic nature. Paragraph 3 of Article 565 of Organic Law 4/2013 of 28 June, states that the internal control of the expenditure of the General Council of the Judiciary shall be carried out by a public servant belonging to the Higher State Body of Comptrollers and Auditors, which shall functionally depend on the General Council of the Judiciary, and that external control shall be carried out by the National Audit Office.
The general rules of State contracting and economic and financial rules are applied rigorously to all of the Council's activities. Paragraph 1 of Article 639 states that the General Council of the Judiciary may draw up the contracts necessary for the appropriate exercise of its functions, subject to public sector contract law.
The National Audit Office has favourably audited all of the settlement accounts of its budgets, incorporated in the General State accounts, since its establishment.
The Budget Settlement Account of the General Council of the Judiciary is formulated, every tax year, in accordance with the stipulations of Articles 87 and 92 of the Regulation on the Organisation and Functioning of the General Council of the Judiciary of 22 April 1986, by the Secretary General.
2023 Settlement Account
On 29-02-2024, the General Secretary submitted to the Finance Committee the 2023 Budget Settlement Account, formulated under Article 92 ROF on the Judiciary.
The Finance Committee, at its meeting of 06-03-2024, reviewed the documentation presented. As a result, the Committee highlighted the following aspects, which constitute the report that it presents to the Permanent Committee for subsequent reception by the Plenary of the Board under the provisions of article 599.8 of Law 6/1985:
- The Account format is modified, and its content based on the provisions of Order EHA/1037/2010, approving the General Public Accounting Plan.
- The account’s contents provide an accurate and fair view of the budget execution.
- The information meets the requirements of clarity, relevance, reliability, and comparability.
- The constraining limits for each budget allocation have been complied with.
- The final appropriations (initial appropriations plus modifications) amounted to €79.907.371,03. Liabilities of €65.972.931,03 were recognised, which represents a 82,56% execution.
- The budget execution, broken down by chapter, is as follows:
| Budget Chapter | Execution level of final allocations |
| 1 Personnel expenses | 84,47% |
| 2 Current expenditure on goods and services | 79,13€ |
| 4 Current transfers (Grants) | 96,81% |
| 6 Actual expenditure | 82,38% |
| 8 Financial assets | 43,27% |
| TOTAL ALL CHAPTERS | 82,56% |
Consequently, under the provisions of Articles 612.3.2 and 599.8 of Law 6/1985 of 1st July 1985 on the Judiciary and Articles 87 and 92 of the Regulations on the Organisation and Functioning of the General Council of the Judiciary, the Finance Committee, at its meeting of 06-03-2024, agreed to express its agreement with the Budget Settlement Account of the General Council of the Judiciary for 2023, drawn up by the General Secretary, and to submit it to the Permanent Committee for subsequent submission to the Plenary, together with the observations contained in the Finance Committee’s report.
The Plenary of the Council approved the account at its meeting on 2024-03-21.
2022 Settlement Account
On 06-03-2023, the General Secretary submitted to the Finance Committee the 2022 Budget Settlement Account, formulated under Article 92 ROF on the Judiciary.
The Finance Committee, at its meeting of 08-03-2023, reviewed the documentation presented. As a result, the Committee highlighted the following aspects, which constitute the report that it presents to the Permanent Committee for subsequent reception by the Plenary of the Board under the provisions of article 599.8 of Law 6/1985:
- The Account format is modified, and its content based on the provisions of Order EHA/1037/2010, approving the General Public Accounting Plan.
- The account’s contents provide an accurate and fair view of the budget execution.
- The information meets the requirements of clarity, relevance, reliability, and comparability.
- The constraining limits for each budget allocation have been complied with.
- The final appropriations (initial appropriations plus modifications) amounted to €77.547.107,42. Liabilities of €62.199.389,78 were recognised, which represents a 80,21% execution.
- The budget execution, broken down by chapter, is as follows:
| Budget Chapter | Execution level of final allocations |
| 1 Personnel expenses | 85,47% |
| 2 Current expenditure on goods and services | 72,22€ |
| 4 Current transfers (Grants) | 91,22% |
| 6 Actual expenditure | 73,60% |
| 8 Financial assets | 84,95% |
| TOTAL ALL CHAPTERS | 80,21% |
Consequently, under the provisions of Articles 612.3.2 and 599.8 of Law 6/1985 of 1st July 1985 on the Judiciary and Articles 87 and 92 of the Regulations on the Organisation and Functioning of the General Council of the Judiciary, the Finance Committee, at its meeting of 08-03-2023, agreed to express its agreement with the Budget Settlement Account of the General Council of the Judiciary for 2022, drawn up by the General Secretary, and to submit it to the Permanent Committee for subsequent submission to the Plenary, together with the observations contained in the Finance Committee’s report.
The Plenary of the Council approved the account at its meeting on 30th March 2023.
2021 Settlement Account
On 28-02-2022, the General Secretary submitted to the Finance Committee the 2020 Budget Settlement Account, formulated under Article 92 ROF on the Judiciary.
The Finance Committee, at its meeting of 02-03-2022, reviewed the documentation presented. As a result, the Committee highlighted the following aspects, which constitute the report that it presents to the Permanent Committee for subsequent reception by the Plenary of the Board under the provisions of article 599.8 of Law 6/1985:
- The Account format is modified, and its content based on the provisions of Order EHA/1037/2010, approving the General Public Accounting Plan.
- The account’s contents provide an accurate and fair view of the budget execution.
- The information meets the requirements of clarity, relevance, reliability, and comparability.
- The constraining limits for each budget allocation have been complied with.
- The final appropriations (initial appropriations plus modifications) amounted to €74.406.558,75. Liabilities of €54.209.376,19 were recognised, which represents a 72,86% execution.
- The budget execution, broken down by chapter, is as follows:
|
BUDGET CHAPTER |
EXECUTION LEVEL OF FINAL ALLOCATIONS |
|
1 Personnel expenses……………………………………………………………………….82,86% |
|
|
2 Current expenditure on goods and services………………………………….57,53% |
|
|
4 Current transfers (Grants)………………………………………………………………90,28% |
|
|
6 Actual expenditure…………………………………………………………………………….66,23% |
|
|
8 Financial assets………………………………………………………………………………….54,73% |
|
|
TOTAL ALL CHAPTERS…………………………………………………………….72,86% |
|
Consequently, under the provisions of Articles 612.3.2 and 599.8 of Law 6/1985 of 1st July 1985 on the Judiciary and Articles 87 and 92 of the Regulations on the Organisation and Functioning of the General Council of the Judiciary, the Finance Committee, at its meeting of 02-03-2022, agreed to express its agreement with the Budget Settlement Account of the General Council of the Judiciary for 2020, drawn up by the General Secretary, and to submit it to the Permanent Committee for subsequent submission to the Plenary, together with the observations contained in the Finance Committee’s report.
The Plenary of the Council approved the account at its meeting on 24th March 2022.
2020 Settlement Account
On 5th March 2021, the General Secretary submitted to the Finance Committee the 2020 Budget Settlement Account, formulated under Article 612.3.2 of Law 6/1985 of 1st July 1985 on the Judiciary.
The Finance Committee, at its meeting of 10th March 2021, reviewed the documentation presented. As a result, the Committee highlighted the following aspects, which constitute the report that it presents to the Permanent Committee for subsequent reception by the Plenary of the Board under the provisions of article 599.8 of Law 6/1985:
- The Account format is modified, and its content based on the provisions of Order EHA/1037/2010, approving the General Public Accounting Plan.
- The account’s contents provide an accurate and fair view of the budget execution.
- The information meets the requirements of clarity, relevance, reliability, and comparability.
- The constraining limits for each budget allocation have been complied with.
- The final appropriations (initial appropriations plus modifications) amounted to €59,464,243.18. Liabilities of €53,812,817.07 were recognised, which represents a 90.50% execution.
- The budget execution, broken down by chapter, is as follows:
|
BUDGET CHAPTER |
EXECUTION LEVEL OF FINAL ALLOCATIONS |
|
1 Personnel expenses……………………………………………………………………….97.95% |
|
|
2 Current expenditure on goods and services………………………………….79.43% |
|
|
4 Current transfers (Grants)………………………………………………………………95.69% |
|
|
6 Actual expenditure…………………………………………………………………………….75.85% |
|
|
8 Financial assets………………………………………………………………………………….32.45% |
|
|
TOTAL ALL CHAPTERS…………………………………………………………….90.50% |
|
Consequently, under the provisions of Articles 612.3.2 and 599.8 of Law 6/1985 of 1st July 1985 on the Judiciary and Articles 87 and 92 of the Regulations on the Organisation and Functioning of the General Council of the Judiciary, the Finance Committee, at its meeting of 10th March 2021, agreed to express its agreement with the Budget Settlement Account of the General Council of the Judiciary for 2020, drawn up by the General Secretary, and to submit it to the Permanent Committee for subsequent submission to the Plenary, together with the observations contained in the Finance Committee’s report.
The Plenary of the Council approved the account at its meeting on 25th March 2021.
Settlement Account 2019
On 2020-06-25, the Secretary General presented the 2019 Budget Settlement Account to the Economic Affairs Committee, which was drawn up in accordance with the provisions of article 612 paragraph 3 subparagraph 2 of Law 6/1985.
The Economic Affairs Committee, during its meeting on 2020-07-08, examined the documentation brought before it, emphasising the following aspects that make up the report to be presented to the Permanent Committee for its subsequent presentation to the Plenary of the Council in accordance with 599.8 of Law 6/1985:
- The Account improves its content in relation to previous years, modifying or deleting some non-representative parts from an accounting point of view. The Committee positively evaluated its informative content, following the Report written by the Secretary General in all aspects that it addresses in detail.
- The Committee confirmed that in the implementation of the 2019 Budget, the limits consisting of the amounts of budgetary allocations have been respected in the aggregation levels in the appropriations of a binding nature.
- Of the 59.087.479,03 euros that the final budget appropriations reached (initial appropriations 59.329.236,99, plus modifications 1.203.096,99), as indicated in the Report of the Secretary General, liabilities of 52.916.672,03 euros have been recognised, which means a rate of implementation of 89,19% of final appropriations and of 91,04% of initial appropriations.
- The various Budget Chapters (1, 2, 4, 6, 8), recorded in the General State Budgets section corresponding to the Council (Section 08), were implemented in 2019 in the percentages indicated in the following table.
As a result, the Economic Affairs Committee, during its meeting on 2020-07-08, agreed to declare its acceptance of the 2019 Budget Settlement Account from the General Council of the Judiciary, drawn up by the Secretary General, and to elevate it to the Standing Committee to be subsequently sent to the Plenary, along with the observations transcribed, established in its report, for its subsequent presentation in accordance with article 599.8 of Law 4/2013.
The Plenary of the Council approved the account in its meeting on 28-072020.
Settlement Account 2018
On 2019-06-27, the Secretary General presented the 2018 Budget Settlement Account to the Economic Affairs Committee, which was drawn up in accordance with the provisions of article 612 paragraph 3 subparagraph 2 of Law 6/1985.
The Economic Affairs Committee, during its meeting on 2019-07-01, examined the documentation brought before it, emphasising the following aspects that make up the report to be presented to the Permanent Committee for its subsequent presentation to the Plenary of the Council in accordance with 599.8 of Law 6/1985:
- The Account improves its content in relation to previous years, modifying or deleting some non-representative parts from an accounting point of view. The Committee positively evaluated its informative content, following the Report written by the Secretary General in all aspects that it addresses in detail.
- The Committee confirmed that in the implementation of the 2018 Budget, the limits consisting of the amounts of budgetary allocations have been respected in the aggregation levels in the appropriations of a binding nature.
- Of the 59.087.479,03 euros that the final budget appropriations reached (initial appropriations 58.126.140,00, plus modifications 961.339,03), as indicated in the Report of the Secretary General, liabilities of 48.714.250,61 euros have been recognised, which means a rate of implementation of 82,44% of final appropriations and of 83,81% of initial appropriations.
- The various Budget Chapters (1, 2, 4, 6, 8), recorded in the General State Budgets section corresponding to the Council (Section 08), were implemented in 2018 in the percentages indicated in the following table.
As a result, the Economic Affairs Committee, during its meeting on 2019-07-01, agreed to declare its acceptance of the 2018 Budget Settlement Account from the General Council of the Judiciary, drawn up by the Secretary General, and to elevate it to the Standing Committee to be subsequently sent to the Plenary, along with the observations transcribed, established in its report, for its subsequent presentation in accordance with article 599.8 of Law 4/2013.
The Plenary of the Council approved the account in its meeting on 24-07-2019.
Settlement Account 2017
On 2018-07-04, the Secretary General presented the 2017 Budget Settlement Account to the Economic Affairs Committee, which was drawn up in accordance with the provisions of article 612 paragraph 3 subparagraph 2 of Law 4/2013 of 28 June, on reforming the General Council of the Judiciary.
The Economic Affairs Committee, during its meeting on 2018-07-09, examined the documentation brought before it, emphasising the following aspects that make up the report to be presented to the Permanent Committee for its subsequent presentation to the Plenary of the Council in accordance with 599.8 of Law 4/2013:
- The Account presents the same structure and informative content as those of the previous budgetary period. The Committee positively evaluated its informative content, following the Report written by the Secretary General in all aspects that it addresses in detail.
- The Committee confirmed that in the implementation of the 2017 Budget, the limits consisting of the amounts of budgetary allocations have been respected in the aggregation levels in the appropriations of a binding nature.
- Of the 57.517.222,09 euros that the final budget appropriations reached (initial appropriations 56.274.670,00, plus modifications 1.242.552,09), as indicated in the Report of the Secretary General, liabilities of 48.600.696,24 euros have been recognised, which means a rate of implementation of 84,50% of final appropriations and of 86,36% of initial appropriations.
- The various Budget Chapters (1, 2, 4, 6, 8), recorded in the General State Budgets section corresponding to the Council (Section 08), were implemented in 2017 in the percentages indicated in the following table.
As a result, the Economic Affairs Committee, during its meeting on 2018-07-09, agreed to declare its acceptance of the 2017 Budget Settlement Account from the General Council of the Judiciary, drawn up by the Secretary General, and to elevate it to the Standing Committee to be subsequently sent to the Plenary, along with the observations transcribed, established in its report, for its subsequent presentation in accordance with article 599.8 of Law 4/2013.
The Permanent Committee, during its meeting on 2018-07-19, agreed to declare its acceptance of the 2017 Budget Settlement Account from the General Council of the Judiciary, drawn up by the Secretary General, and has agreed to send it to the Plenary.
The Plenary of the Council approved the account in its meeting on 2018-07-24.
Settlement Account 2016
On 2017-06-27, the Secretary General presented the 2016 Budget Settlement Account to the Economic Affairs Committee, which was drawn up in accordance with the provisions of article 612 paragraph 3 subparagraph 2 of Law 4/2013 of 28 June, on reforming the General Council of the Judiciary.
The Economic Affairs Committee, during its meeting on 2017-07-12, examined the documentation brought before it, emphasising the following aspects that make up the report to be presented to the Permanent Committee for its subsequent presentation to the Plenary of the Council in accordance with 599.8 of Law 4/2013:
- The Account presents the same structure and informative content as those of the previous budgetary period. The Committee positively evaluated its informative content, following the Report written by the Secretary General in all aspects that it addresses in detail.
- The Committee confirmed that in the implementation of the 2016 Budget, the limits consisting of the amounts of budgetary allocations have been respected in the aggregation levels in the appropriations of a binding nature.
- Of the 56.021.865,19 euros that the final budget appropriations reached (initial appropriations 54.883.560,00, plus modifications 1.138.305,19), as indicated in the Report of the Secretary General, liabilities of 46.328.067,67 euros have been recognised, which means a rate of implementation of 82,70% of final appropriations and of 84,41% of initial appropriations.
- The various Budget Chapters (1, 2, 4, 6, 8), recorded in the General State Budgets section corresponding to the Council (Section 08), were implemented in 2016 in the percentages indicated in the following table.
As a result, the Economic Affairs Committee, during its meeting on 12 July 2017, agreed to declare its acceptance of the 2016 Budget Settlement Account from the General Council of the Judiciary, drawn up by the Secretary General, and to elevate it to the Standing Committee to be subsequently sent to the Plenary, along with the observations transcribed, established in its report, for its subsequent presentation in accordance with article 599.8 of Law 4/2013.
The Permanent Committee, during its meeting on 2017-07-20, agreed to declare its acceptance of the 2016 Budget Settlement Account from the General Council of the Judiciary, drawn up by the Secretary General, and has agreed to send it to the Plenary.
The Plenary of the Council approved the account in its meeting on 2017-07-26.
Settlement Account 2015
On 2016-06-27, the Secretary General presented the 2015 Budget Settlement Account to the Economic Affairs Committee, which was drawn up in accordance with the provisions of article 612 paragraph 3 subparagraph 2 of Law 4/2013 of 28 June, on reforming the General Council of the Judiciary.
The Economic Affairs Committee, during its meeting on 2016-07-11, examined the documentation brought before it, emphasising the following aspects that make up the report to be presented to the Permanent Committee for its subsequent presentation to the Plenary of the Council in accordance with 599.8 of Law 4/2013:
- The Account presents the same structure and informative content as those of the previous budgetary period. The Committee positively evaluated its informative content, following the Report written by the Secretary General in all aspects that it addresses in detail.
- The Committee confirmed that in the implementation of the 2015 Budget, the limits consisting of the amounts of budgetary allocations have been respected in the aggregation levels in the appropriations of a binding nature.
- Of the 55.821.441,93 euros that the final budget appropriations reached (initial appropriations 54.883.560,00, plus modifications 937.881,93), as indicated in the Report of the Secretary General, liabilities of 44.052.049,61 euros have been recognised, which means a rate of implementation of 78,92% of final appropriations and of 80,26% of initial appropriations.
- The various Budget Chapters (1, 2, 4, 6, 8), recorded in the General State Budgets section corresponding to the Council (Section 08), were implemented in 2015 in the percentages indicated in the following table:
As a result, the Economic Affairs Committee, during its meeting on 11 June 2016, agreed to declare its acceptance of the 2015 Budget Settlement Account from the General Council of the Judiciary, drawn up by the Secretary General, and to elevate it to the Standing Committee to be subsequently sent to the Plenary, along with the observations transcribed, established in its report, for its subsequent presentation in accordance with article 599.8 of Law 4/2013.
The Permanent Committee, during its meeting on 2016-07-14, agreed to declare its acceptance of the 2015 Budget Settlement Account from the General Council of the Judiciary, drawn up by the Secretary General, and has agreed to send it to the Plenary.
The Plenary of the Council approved the account in its meeting on 2016-07-26.
Settlement Account 2014
On 12 June 2015, the Secretary General presented the 2014 Budget Settlement Account to the Economic Affairs Committee, which was drawn up in accordance with the provisions of article 612 paragraph 3 subparagraph 2 of Law 4/2013 of 28 June, on reforming the General Council of the Judiciary.
The Economic Affairs Committee, during its meeting on 16 June 2015, examined the documentation brought before it, emphasising the following aspects that make up the report to be presented to the Permanent Committee for its subsequent presentation to the Plenary of the Council in accordance with 599.8 of Law 4/2013:
- The Account presents the same structure and informative content as those of the previous budgetary period. The Committee positively evaluated its informative content, following the Report written by the Secretary General in all aspects that it addresses in detail.
- The Committee confirmed that in the implementation of the 2014 Budget, the limits consisting of the amounts of budgetary allocations have been respected in the aggregation levels in the appropriations of a binding nature.
- Of the 59,355,460.52 euros that the final budget appropriations reached (initial appropriations 57,955,190.00, plus modifications 1,400,270.52), as indicated in the Report of the Secretary General, liabilities of 45,639,517.90 euros have been recognised, which means a rate of implementation of 76.89 % of final appropriations and of 78.75% of initial appropriations.
- The various Budget Chapters (1, 2, 4, 6, 8), recorded in the General State Budgets section corresponding to the Council (Section 08), were implemented in 2014 in the percentages indicated in the following table:
The Permanent Committee, during its meeting on 16 July 2015, agreed to declare its acceptance of the 2014 Budget Settlement Account from the General Council of the Judiciary, drawn up by the Secretary General, and has agreed to send it to the Plenary.
The Plenary of the Council approved the account in its meeting on 22 July 2015.
Settlement Account 2013
The Committee for Economic Affairs, in its meeting on 11 July 2014, examined the documentation transferred by the Secretary General, highlighting the following points, which constituted the report that was raised to the Plenary of the Council, in accordance with the aforementioned Article 87 of the Regulation:
- The Account presents the same structure and informative content as those of previous budgetary periods. The Committee positively evaluated its informative content, abiding by the Report written by the Secretary General in all aspects that it addresses in detail.
- The Committee confirmed that in the implementation of the 2013 Budget, the limits consisting of the amounts of budgetary allocations have been respected in the aggregation levels in the appropriations of a binding nature.
- Of the 65,122,953.74 euros that the final budget appropriations reached (initial appropriations 62,778,970.00, plus modifications 2,343,983.74), as indicated in the Report of the Secretary General, liabilities of 53,500,581.35 euros have been recognised, which means a rate of implementation of 82.15% of final appropriations and of 85.22% of initial appropriations.
- The various Budget Chapters (1, 2, 4, 6, 8), recorded in the General State Budgets section corresponding to the Council (Section 08), were implemented in 2013 in the percentages stated in the settlement account report.
The Plenary of the Council approved the account in its meeting on 24 July 2014.
Settlement Account 2012
The Budgetary Committee, now the Committee for Economic Affairs, in its meeting on 17 July 2013, examined the documentation transferred by the Secretary General, highlighting the following points, which constituted the report that was raised to the Plenary of the Council, in accordance with the aforementioned Article 87 of the Regulation:
- The Account presents the same structure and informative content as those of previous budgetary periods. The Committee positively evaluated its informative content, abiding by the Report written by the Secretary General in all aspects that it addresses in detail.
- The Committee confirmed that in the implementation of the 2012 Budget, the limits consisting of the amounts of budgetary allocations have been respected in the aggregation levels in the appropriations of a binding nature.
- Of the 72.977.477,58 euros that the final budget appropriations reached (initial appropriations 71.352.510,00, plus modifications 1.624.967,58), as indicated in the Report of the Secretary General, liabilities of 53.397.839,82 euros have been recognised, which means a rate of implementation of 73,17% of final appropriations and of 74,84% of initial appropriations.
- The various Budget Chapters (1, 2, 4, 6, 8), recorded in the General State Budgets section corresponding to the Council (Section 08), were implemented in 2012 in the percentages stated in the settlement account report.
The Plenary of the Council approved the account in its meeting on 25 July 2013.
Audits carried out by supervisory bodies
- Audit by the National Audit Office for the Budget for the tax year 2010
- Approval of the Report
The National Audit Office approved the report of the Council audit on the settlement account of the Budget for the 2010 tax year on 24 July 2014. The report was sent to the Mixed Committee of the Congress and the Senate for National Audit Office relations, together with the statements of the Council on the draft audit report, approved by the Standing Committee of the Council in its meeting on 12 June 2014.
The audit includes verification that current legislation has been complied with in the management of public funds as well as in the evaluation of the economic-financial management and internal control procedures and systems applied.
- Financial audit opinion
The audit report of the General Council of the Judiciary literally records the following financial audit opinion, under the inscription "representation of the budget settlement account":
"The budget settlement account of the CGPJ for the 2010 budgetary year is a reasonable representation of the operations carried out in that financial year, in accordance with the applicable accounting norms and principles."
- Acceptance by the Council of the National Audit Office recommendations
The Council has accepted the five recommendations with which the Office concluded its task, which will surely contribute to improving the financial and economic management of the Governing Body of the Judiciary. Many of the conclusions and recommendations were applied as soon as they were drawn up during the audit, stressing that the implementation of the funds assigned by the State budgets to the Council should respond to the criteria of efficiency and economy in compliance with Article 31 of the Constitution and Article 9 of Organic Law 2/1982 of 12 May, on the National Audit Office.
The statements respond to the draft of the audit report of the General Council of the Judiciary that the National Audit Office carried out and that was issued on 30 May 2014. The Council based its responses to the recommendations, conclusions and main body of the audit report on three premises:
Firstly, the financial auditing opinion reflected in section II.2 of the report, in which the National Audit Office concluded that the budget settlement account of the General Council of the Judiciary for the 2010 budget year is a reasonable representation of the operations carried out in that year, in accordance with the applicable accounting norms and principles.
Secondly, the acceptance of the five recommendations with which the Office concluded its task, which will surely contribute to improving the financial and economic management of the Council through its immediate application. Many of the conclusions and recommendations have been applied from the moment they were formulated during the auditing process, as the National Audit Office is aware. The result of this was that the implementation of the funds assigned by the State budgets to the Council responded to the criteria of efficiency and economy in compliance with Article 31 of the Constitution and Article 9 of Organic Law 2/1982 of 12 May, on the National Audit Office.
Finally, that the Council, like other constitutional bodies, is not and cannot be subject to the guardianship of the General Administration of the State, an issue that will be addressed later.
All of the above is without prejudice to the difference of opinion between the Audit Office and the Council when interpreting applicable legislation in some sections of the audit report.
- Update of the control and transparency regime June 2012
As the National Audit Office states in its report, the Council updated the control and transparency regime that compiled a substantial part of the existing internal rules until that date, improving the internal control guarantees of its financial and economic activity, based on four principles:
- Approval of the criteria for improving the implementation of the Council's budget, within a logical framework of austerity with which the current economic crisis should be confronted, that serve to contain expenditure when implementing the Budget of the Council.
- The updating of the rules on ceremonial expenditure or representation and travel expenses charged to the CGPJ Budget, which substitute those that were previously in force and approved by the Budgetary Committee on 14 December 1999, in the implementation of those approved by the plenary Agreements of 11 September and 23 October 1996, with the main aim of reinforcing the justification that the Senior Officials have to provide for their public activities, affording the system absolute transparency. Similarly, and in keeping with austerity when using scarce public resources that are in demand, various limitations are established on expenditure.
- The publication on www.poderjudicial.es of the institutional agenda of activities and meetings of the legal and regulatory Commissions, of the delegated Committees for various matters or jurisdictional orders, and of the territorial Committees.
- The quarterly publication on www.poderjudicial.es of the budget implementation status classified by programmes, chapters and concepts.
The agreement of June 2012 was partially updated by the Standing Committee in April 2014.
- Policy implementation of the General Administration of the State
As stated by the National Audit Office, the legal system guarantees the Council, as a constitutional body, the autonomous exercise of its competencies without being subordinate to other State powers, as well as financial and budgetary autonomy.
Regarding this autonomy, it is necessary to point out that the Council, like the other constitutional bodies, is not and cannot be subject to the guardianship of the General Administration of the State, which affects some of the references that the National Audit Office made concerning certain controls on the part of the Ministry of Finance (now the Ministry of Finance and Public Administrations) or some of its bodies (such as the General State Comptroller).
Thus, although the Office has had the opportunity to verify the fact that the Council reproduced to a large extent the expenditure management criteria, in effect within the General Administration of the State, and it has recently introduced new rules which attempt to reinforce the transparency of its management, this should not imply that it is subject to the guardianship of this body, which implies that the references made in the report to the omission of certain control mechanisms on the part of the aforementioned General Administration of the State would not be appropriate (thus, the communications to the Ministry of Finance or to the General State Comptroller). Furthermore, this is without prejudice to the existing management control and internal control systems within the Council as a constitutional body.