Independence of Libyan Accounting Bureau in the enabling legislation in the light of Mexico Declaration on Independence of Supreme Audit Institutions

摘要

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the enabling legislation of Libyan Accounting Bureau (LAB) for its independence in the light of the Mexico Declaration on Independence of Supreme Auditing Institutions (SAIs). Design/methodology/approach: to achieve the above mentioned objective, the study used the framework of independence that was designed by Nikodem (2004). However, as this framework is constitutional orientation and was developed before the establishment of Mexico Declaration, some adjustments are made on it to: (1) include the Law No. 19 of 2013 of the LAB, along with the Libyan Constitutional Declaration (LCD) of 2011; (2) add more variables to be fit to the Mexico Declaration on Independence of SAIs; (3) re-ordering the variables according to their importance; and (4) establish an overall ranking degree of independence. Findings: Results indicate that in overall the LCD and law No. 19 of 2013 granted a slightly high level (0.66) of formal independence for LAB. The organisational and financial independence received the highest score (0.88), followed by Personal independence (0.67). The operational independence was the weakest link (0.42). However, the enabling legislation of LAB is silent on some variable include: (1) provision on discretion of LAB; (2) publicity of LAB＞S report; and (3) follow-up mechanisms on LAB recommendations. Research limitations/implications: If actual practice or convention does not reflect the literal interpretation and application of the enabling legislation, then LAB may have more or less independence than suggested by the analysis of the legislation alone. Practical implications: Results of this study highlight where current provisions could be further strengthened through appropriate amendments to the enabling legislation and the coming Libyan constitution. Originality/value: assessment of independence of SAIs in different parts of the world are always welcome and are arguably somewhat is very limited in developing countries in general and in Libya in particular. This paper provides a foundation for future research and development in this area. Moreover, findings of this study may be useful to policy makers and legislators.