Holy See strengthens Anti-Corruption Authority

Holy See strengthens Anti-Corruption Authority

St Peter's Basilica.

Pope Francis introduces the new Statutes of the Office of the Auditor General in the Vatican, elevating it to an Anti-Corruption Authority.

By Vatican News

The first Statute came into force in 2015, following the creation of the Council for the Economy. The Motu proprio Fidelis dispensator et prudens of 24 February 2014, established “A new coordinating agency for the economic and administrative affairs of the Holy See and Vatican City State”. It also created the office of the Auditor General, with the task of “auditing the annual individual budgets of the Departments of the Roman Curia, of the Institutions connected with or referring to the Holy See, and of the Administrations of the Governorate of Vatican City State”.

Article 1, Paragraph 3, of the new Statute names this office the "Anti-corruption Authority", within the definition of the Mérida Convention, and in force for the Holy See and for Vatican City State since 19 October 2016. The Mérida Convention is the United Nations Convention against Corruption, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 31 October 2003.

Greater power to the Auditor

The new Statutes, signed by Pope Francis on 21 January, will come into force on 16 February 2019. They strengthen the functions of the Auditor, now held ad interim by Dr. Alessandro Cassinis Righini.

Article 4 of the 2015 Statute stipulates that the Auditor "may request from entities and administrations...any information and documentation of a financial or administrative nature". The new Statute reformulates this responsibility, granting the Auditor uninhibited authority to access "information and documents of an economic or administrative nature necessary for the performance of the audit". The office may also carry out "any other type of audit procedure it deems appropriate in the circumstances".

Following the audit, the Auditor is required to inform the Council for the Economy, the Financial Intelligence Authority, and to report to the competent Judicial Authority of Vatican City State, any information regarding an offence identified in the course of his or her work.

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