Tribunal de Cuentas de la Provincia de Mendoza

The Tribunal de Cuentas (Court of Accounts) of the Province of Mendoza is an autonomous body with its own legal personality and functional independence (Ley 9.292 Article 2).

It has the jurisdiction the provincial Constitution gives it to approve or disapprove the collection and investment of public funds by all officials, employees and administrators of the Province (Constitution Article 181), and Ley 9.292 gives it after-the-fact external control of the public sector of the Province and its municipalities and of any person who takes part in administering public funds (Article 4).

The Tribunal has a President and four Vocales (members) (Ley 9.292 Article 5). The Constitution has the Executive appoint its members with the agreement of the Senate, requires the President to meet the conditions for membership of the Supreme Court and requires at least two Vocales to be registered public accountants (Constitution Articles 184 and 185); Ley 9.292 requires at least three of the four Vocales to be registered public accountants (Article 5).

Article 185 applies Article 180, which applies Article 151: members are irremovable while their conduct is good, and no fixed term is stated.

Members can be tried before the Jury de Enjuiciamiento (Jury of Impeachment, made up of the members of the Supreme Court and an equal number of senators and of deputies) on the grounds in Constitution Article 109, which are poor performance, disorderly conduct, faults or offences in the exercise of functions, and common crimes (Ley 9.292 Article 9; Constitution Articles 109 and 164).

Article 5 of the Act also lists paragraphs 21 and 22 of Constitution Article 128 among the provisions that govern appointment and removal; paragraph 22 lets the Governor suspend or remove officials whose appointment needs the Senate's agreement and report the measure to the Senate, which may overturn it only by a two-thirds vote of members present.

The President prepares the Tribunal's annual budget, which the Tribunal approves and sends for inclusion in the General Budget Law of the Province (Ley 9.292 Articles 11 and 13). Every person or body that administers public funds must supply the data and documents the Tribunal asks for within the time it sets, and limiting audit work or ignoring its instructions is punishable by fine (Article 66).

Where a public authority or private entity does not provide requested information, the Tribunal issues a final summons warning that the file will be copied to open a criminal case for the offence of disobedience (Article 239 of the Criminal Code) and asks a judge for an order to enter premises, seize documents and use public force (Article 50).

Fines can reach fifty times the starting-grade salary of the provincial civil service scale, or 30 percent of the value of an irregular contract, and the Tribunal can also charge the amount of a loss to the person responsible (Articles 54 and 55).

The Tribunal sends the Legislature and the Ministry of Finance a detailed annual report of its work with a statement of the accounts decided, and must publish its rulings in the Boletín Oficial (Articles 69 and 70). Ley 9.292 repeals Ley 1.003 (Article 77).