Global Integrity Report

Ecuador Home

Facts

Timeline

Notebook

Integrity Scorecard

2007 Assessment

Ecuador: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Ecuador: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Supreme Audit Institution
Indicators		Score
55	In law, is there a national supreme audit institution, auditor general or equivalent agency covering the entire public sector?	100
56	Is the supreme audit institution effective?	81
57	Can citizens access reports of the supreme audit institution?	67

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

In law, is there a national supreme audit institution, auditor general or equivalent agency covering the entire public sector?

55: In law, is there a national supreme audit institution, auditor general or equivalent agency covering the entire public sector?

Score:

YES

Comments: The Controller General of the State (CGE--Contraloría General del Estado), is the supreme agency that audits the institutions of the state. According to law the CGE will carry out audits of the companies and agencies in the public sector and its servants.

References: National Constitution: Artcicle 211

Is the supreme audit institution effective?

56a: In law, the supreme audit institution is protected from political interference.

Score:

YES

Comments: According to the National Constitution, this agency enjoys autonomy; nevertheless the head of the Controller General of the State (CGE--Contraloría General del Estado) is appointed by political parties. The National Constitution delinates that the head of the CGE must be approved by 2/3 of the National Congress' members. The appointment is decided between a list of three names, previously sent io the National Congress by the Executive.

References: National Constitution: Article 211; Article 130, No. 12; Article 171, No. 11 (Atribución del Congreso Nacional para nombrar las autoridades).

56b: In practice, the head of the audit agency is protected from removal without relevant justification.

Score:

100

Comments: The actions of the Controller General of the State (CGE--Contraloría General del Estado) are supervised by the National Congress. If the National Congress considers that the actions of the CGE are not good, the National Congress has to the right to begin a political judgment. Actually, the CGE has not been removed from his public position without any relevant justification. What has been generated is a polemic among the Executive and Legislative function regarding the Controller's appointment. There should be greater cooperation among the two functions, to reach agreements and to improve the political stability.

References: Interview with Gustavo Yalk (Projusticia)

Peer Review Comments: The truth of this statement is questionable, although recently no heads have been removed arbitrarily.

56c: In practice, the audit agency has a professional, full-time staff.

Score:

100

Comments: There is a full-time staff to carry out the audits. The full-time staff works eight hours a day. One of the biggest problems is the absence of a renewal of the personnel, with young professionals on accounting and audit careers.

References: Interview with Modesto Santos (Contraloría General del Estado)

Peer Review Comments: The vast majority of the staff are administrative personnel, not professional auditors. The quality of staff for the office has declined steadily for many years because political appointees, friends, and cronies have been given jobs.

56d: In practice, audit agency appointments support the independence of the agency.

Score:

100

Comments: Audit agencies support the independence of the Controller General of the State (CGE--Contraloría General del Estado). The CGE carries out the administration and financial audits. The CGE is a control body; it should be independent so that there are not political pressures on the policymaking process. It is recognized that its full-time staff are qualified and have great experience in carrying out audits.

References: Interview with Gustavo Yalk (Projusticia)

Peer Review Comments: News reports mentioned that the recently elected National Comptroller, Carlos Pólit, had direct links to an important political party in Ecuador. An information source would be the Civic Commission of Corruption Control (CCCC Comisión de Control Cívico de la Corrupción).

Peer Review Comments: Appointments rarely have anything to do with independence; rather, they are made based upon political and personal considerations.

56e: In practice, the audit agency receives regular funding.

Score:

100

Comments: The budget of the Controller General of the State (CGE--Contraloría General del Estado) is of 5 percent of the total budget. These resources guarantees supervision by the CGE.

References: Interview with Modesto Santos (Contraloría General del Estado)

Peer Review Comments: The agency is unusually well funded as a result of allocation of a percentage of the total budget.

56f: In practice, the audit agency makes regular public reports.

Score:

100

Comments: The Controller General of the State (CGE--Contraloría General del Estado) make reports annually when it carries out its annual audits. The reports are found on the Web site, but audited reports are not found on the Web site, because it is considered like protected information. Not all information is available.

References: Interview with Modesto Santos (Contraloría General del Estado)

Peer Review Comments: Reports are made many years after the transactions are carried out, thus losing their effectiveness. Individual reports are not released publicly, except in very rare circumstances. The annual report is relatively meaningless.

56g: In practice, the government acts on the findings of the audit agency.

Score:

100

Comments: The government and public institutions are audited by the Controller General of the State (CGE--Contraloría General del Estado). When the audit agency find some irregularities, the government and public institutions must justify their actions.

I think that the CGE must realize a major previous control in all the public entities. Once a later control is realized, the CGE receipts more information and the sanctions could not be opportune.

References: Interview with Modesto Santos (Contraloría General del Estado) 2006/07/07 www.elmercurio.com.ec "Se alarga el cobro a la Andrade Gutierrez". 2007/03/01 www.elmercurio.com.ec "Exámenes por mala utilización de Recursos". 2007/05/23 www.elmercurio.com.ec "Pativideos causa polémica".

Peer Review Comments: Reports are so late that many issues are moot. Rarely is correctiove action taken based upon them.

56h: In practice, the audit agency is able to initiate its own investigations.

Score:

100

Comments: The Controller General of the State (CGE--Contraloría General del Estado) is able to carry out its own investigations. In fact it carries out 99 percent of the audits within the government, National Congress; judicial public institutions, state-owned companies and companies that contain public capital. The CGE also supervises the goods of the employees of the executive function, legislative function and judicial function. The remaining 1 percent of audits include environmental and computer audits that are carried out by other audit agencies.

The CGE initiated special examinations in organizations like Andinatel, Pacifictel and Petroecuador.

References: Interview with Modesto Santos (Contraloría General del Estado)

[ LINK ] 2007/06/13 La obra Carrizal-Chone está bajo investigación.

[ LINK ] 2007/02/23 Haré un control a todos los entes.

wwww.elmercurio.com.ec 2007/03/01 Exámenes por mala utilización de recursos

[ LINK ] 2007/04/22 No aceptó presiones de mi partido: Pólit.

Peer Review Comments: The agency does not get involved in areas that might cause "problems."

Can citizens access reports of the supreme audit institution?

57a: In law, citizens can access reports of the audit agency.

Score:

YES

Comments: The concept of Habeas Data authorizes citizens to request information.

The principle of publicity of the information supported by the Law on Transparency and Access to Public Information (Ley de Transparencia y Acceso a la Información Pública).

References: National Constitution; Article 94

Peer Review Comments: As a rule, reports are not publicly released.

57b: In practice, citizens can access audit reports within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: The audit reports are protected information, because there are some cases that imply to open civil and penal processes. It is not ethical that any person can have access to it. When a specific audit report is granted, the petition should be written to the Controller General of the State (CGE--Contraloría General del Estado and to justify that he/she will make with the information. These petitions granted are a minority, because in the majority of the cases the information is denied.

References: Interview with Modesto Santos (Contraloría General del Estado)

Peer Review Comments: Reports are not issued within a reasonable time period and are considered confidential, except in special cases.

57c: In practice, citizens can access the audit reports at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments: The information is free.

References: Interview with Modesto Santos (Contraloría General del Estado)

Peer Review Comments: The reports are not normally accessed at any cost.