| Riigikontroll | |
 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 27 December 1918 |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Estonia |
| Headquarters | Kiriku 2/4, 15013 Tallinn |
| Employees | ~100 |
| Annual budget | €5,945,000 (FY 2019) [1] |
| Agency executive |
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| Website | www |
The National Audit Office of Estonia (Estonian : Riigikontroll) is an independent institution in Estonia, which is responsible for exercising economic control in order to assure the parliament and the public that public assets are used legally and effectively. [3]
The National Audit Office of Estonia was established on 27 December 1918 with a decision by the Estonian Provincial Assembly. Aleksander Oinas became the first Auditor General on January 6, 1919. Due to the ongoing Estonian War of Independence, a military department was formed under the National Audit Office on January 26, 1919, with an agreement between the Auditor General and the Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces. More departments were formed later that year. On February 5, a law was passed, which determined the tasks of the institution. On May 8, A. Oinas became the Minister of the Interior and Aleksander Käsk became the acting Auditor General. On July 1, Karl August Einbund was appointed the Auditor General and led the organization until July 30, 1920, when he also became Minister of the Interior. Peeter Reisik took over the position until he was replaced by Ferdinand Vellner on October 11, 1920. On 22 September 1919 the Audit Board of the National Audit Office approved regulations, which stipulated the areas of focus, structure of the organization, mandate and tasks of the Auditor General, composition of the Audit Board, procedures etc. Also, during that year, the audit office was made responsible for overseeing the printing of Estonian money. This meant that the audit office had to send representatives to Finland, where the money was printed. Aleksander Oinas became the Auditor General again on March 17, 1921. On November 16, 1926, he was replaced by Johannes Friedrich Zimmermann. In 1927 a limit was introduced on the number of officials at the audit office. A new Auditor General, Karl-Johannes Soonberg (later named Karl Soonpää), was appointed in July 1929. On June 17, 1940, the Soviets occupied Estonia. Karl Soonpää was released on July 10 and on July 13 Aleksander Aben became acting Auditor General. The National Audit Office was finally disbanded on August 25, 1940. [4]
On May 29, 1989, a working group was established to reorganize the control bodies of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic by the Council of Ministers. By the end of the year the working group had presented a new concept, which envisaged the dissolution of 31 state agencies. Some of the responsibilities of those bodies were to be taken over by a new audit office. During that same year, work began to formulate an act for national auditing. In May 1989, a delegation visited the national audit offices of Finland and Sweden to gain knowledge and experience to draft the new legislation. At the end of the year, another visit was made by Finnish state auditors to Estonia, to present an overview of the Finnish auditing organization. On April 4, 1990, the Supreme Soviet of Estonia approved the dismantling of the People's Control Committee system. An attempt was made by a former leader of the People's Control Committee to reverse the decision, but this ultimately failed due to lack of political support.
The National Audit Office Act was passed on June 6, 1990, which meant the restoration of the National Audit Office of Estonia. On September 20, Hindrek-Peeter Meri was appointed the Auditor General. On November 1, the institution started its work in the former ESSR Planning Committee building at Suur-Ameerika 1, Tallinn. In February 1991, the office moved to another building at Narva maantee 4. On August 20, 1991, the Republic of Estonia officially declared the restoration of independence. In October 1992, the National Audit Office of Estonia became a member of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions, and on 16 April 1993, became a member of EUROSAI. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania signed an agreement on the cooperation of their respective audit offices in October 1994.
On 31 October 1997, Hindrek-Peeter Meri's term concluded and Rein Söörd temporarily became the acting Auditor General. Juhan Parts took over the position on June 9, 1998. In 2000, the National Audit Office was reorganized with the establishment of three auditing departments, based on the types of audits instead of fields of audit. A new National Audit Office Act was passed on January 29, 2002. By his own request, Juhan Parts was released from his position on October 8, 2002. Until the appointment of a new person, Jüri Kõrge became the acting Auditor General. On April 1, 2003, Mihkel Oviir was appointed to the position of Auditor General. On February 26, 2008, he started his second term. On April 7, 2013, his second term ended and Alar Karis took over his position. [4] The institution was restructured on October 9, 2017, with the dissolution of previous departments and establishment of the Audit Department and the Development and Administrative Service. [5] On April 9, 2018, Janar Holm became the new Auditor General. [2]
The National Audit Office of Estonia is headed by the Auditor General, who is proposed by the President and appointed by the parliament for a term of five years. The institution consists of two main departments - the Audit Department and the Development and Administrative Service.
The Audit Department is responsible for carrying out financial, compliance and performance audits. It is led by the Director of Audit, who is responsible for coordinating the work of audit groups, which are in turn led by audit managers. Altogether there are seven audit groups for different areas.
The Development and Administrative Service supports the Audit Department and the Auditor General in their tasks. It is led by the Director, who is responsible for coordinating the work of the institution and supporting the Auditor General in various administrative tasks. [6]
Politics in Estonia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Estonia is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in the Estonian parliament. Executive power is exercised by the government, which is led by the prime minister. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Estonia is a member of United Nations, the European Union, and NATO.
The Estonian resistance movement was an underground movement to resist the occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany, 1941–1944 during World War II. Due to the unusually benign measures implemented in Estonia by the German occupation authorities, especially in contrast to the preceding harsh Soviet occupation of Estonia (1940–1941), the movement was slower to develop effective tactics on a wide scale than in other occupied countries.
The Estonian Police was the law enforcement agency of Estonia. It was subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior. In 2010, the organization was superseded by the Police and Border Guard Board.
The Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Estonia and its head, the Minister of Defence, are responsible for organizing national defence. It is Estonia's ministry of defence. The mission of the Ministry of Defence is to deter attacks against Estonia and ensure that the country is capable of defending itself against external threats. Estonian national defence is based on initial self-defence capability as well as membership in NATO.
The Estonian Defence Forces are the unified military forces of the Republic of Estonia. The Estonian Defence Forces consist of the Estonian Land Forces, the Estonian Navy, the Estonian Air Force, and the paramilitary Estonian Defence League. The national defence policy aims to guarantee the preservation of the independence and sovereignty of the state, the integrity of its land area, territorial waters, airspace and its constitutional order. Its main goals remain the development and maintenance of a credible capability to defend the nation's vital interests and development of the defence forces in a way that ensures their interoperability with the armed forces of NATO and European Union member states to participate in the full range of missions for these military alliances.
The International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) is an intergovernmental organization whose members are supreme audit institutions. Nearly every supreme audit institution in the world is a member of INTOSAI. Depending on the type of system used in their home country, the members of INTOSAI may be variously titled the Chief Financial Controller, the Office of the Comptroller General, the Office of the Auditor General, the Court of Accounts, or the Board of Audit.
The Police and Border Guard Board is a unified national governmental agency within the Estonian Ministry of Interior and is responsible for law enforcement and internal security in the Republic of Estonia.
Corporate chambers were a series of corporate institutions in Estonia during the interwar period. The first of these – the Chamber of Commerce and Industry – was created in 1924, and the second, the Chamber of Agriculture, followed in 1931. However, most of the chambers were established after the 1934 coup d'état of Konstantin Päts, and the Era of Silence which followed the coup became their heyday.
A supreme audit institution is an independent national-level institution which conducts audits of government activities. Most supreme audit institutions are established in their country's constitution, and their mandate is further refined in national legislation. Supreme audit institutions play an important role in providing oversight and accountability in a country by monitoring the use of public funds and reviewing the quality and accuracy of government financial reporting. They also contribute to anti-corruption efforts. Depending on the country, a supreme audit institution may be called a court of audit, auditor-general or the board of audit. Nearly every supreme audit institution in the world is a member of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions, which works to establish and disseminate international standards and good practices.
The Headquarters of the Estonian Defence Forces is the working body of the Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces and joint staff of the Estonian Defence Forces. Its main tasks include supporting the activities of the Commander and Deputy Commander of the Defence Forces; planning the activities of the Defence Forces; advising, supervising, coordinating and controlling the activities of the Defence Forces units.
The State Audit Office of the Republic of Latvia is a public auditing body overseeing the finances of national and local government in Latvia. It was first created in 1918, and re-established in 1992 when Latvia again became independent.
Minister of Finance is the senior minister at the Ministry of Finance (Rahandusministeerium) in the Estonian Government. The Minister is one of the most important members of the Estonian government, with responsibility for coordinating the government's policies on national finances. The position was originally established in 1918.
Miina Härma Gymnasium is an institution composed of a primary school and a secondary school in Tartu, Estonia. The school holds a special emphasis on languages. Miina Härma Gymnasium is an IB World School offering the Diploma Programme and the Primary Years Programme, and a candidate school for the Middle Years Programme.
This is a list of members of the fifth legislative session of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu) following the 1932 elections. It sat between 15 June 1932 and 2 October 1934, when its activities were suspended. The session formally ended on 31 December 1937.
Aleksander Ferdinand Oinas was an Estonian politician; he was a long-serving member of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu) and served three times as a government minister. was an Estonian politician; he was a long-serving member of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu) and served three times as a government minister.
Johannes Lauristin was an Estonian communist politician, activist, writer and statesman who served as the first Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic. Hs wife was communist politician Olga Lauristin and his daughter was politician Marju Lauristin.
The Auditor-General of Ghana is the head of the Ghana Audit Service, a legislative branch agency re-established by the government of Ghana in 1992 through the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. It was established as part of the Audit Service through Article 188 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana as part of the Public Services of Ghana. The Auditor-General through the Audit service undertakes audits of the public accounts of Ghana and all public offices as mandated by Article 187 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
Janar Holm is an Estonian civil servant.
Hindrek-Peeter Meri was an Estonian statesman.
Felix Johannes Oinas was an Estonian folklorist, linguist, and translator.
