United Nations Panel of External Auditors

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Rules of Procedure of the Panel

Adopted on 27 November 1967 at the tenth regular session of the Panel

Amended on 10 December 2012 at the fifty-third regular session of the Panel, held in New York

Amended on 21 November 2023 at the sixty-third regular session of the Panel, held in New York

MEMBERSHIP

1. In accordance with paragraph 1 of the annex to General Assembly resolution 1438 (XIV), the members of the United Nations Board of Auditors and the appointed external auditors of the specialized agencies and of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) shall constitute the Panel of External Auditors, hereafter referred to as the Panel.
2. Except as otherwise provided in article 33 below, in the event that a member ceases to be a member of the Board of Auditors or the appointed external auditor of a specialized agency or IAEA, the membership in the Panel automatically terminates.
3. The vacancy thus created will be filled by the newly appointed member of the Board of Auditors or the newly appointed external auditor of the specialized agency or IAEA as the case may be.

TopOBJECTIVES

4. The objective of the Panel shall be to further the coordination of the audits for which its members are responsible and to exchange information on methods and findings. The Panel may also submit to the executive heads of the participating organizations its opinion, observation or recommendation on matters within its competence for their guidance and in an effort to achieve a greater degree of uniformity of auditing standards and use of accounting principles within the United Nations family of organizations. Additionally, the executive heads of the participating organizations may, through their auditor (or auditors), submit requests to the Panel for its advice or opinion.

TopSESSIONS

5. The Panel shall determine the frequency of its regular sessions, and in any event such sessions shall be held at least once each year. The dates and location for these sessions are to be established by the Chair in consultation with the members.
6. The Panel may be convened for a special session at such other times as a need for the Panel’s attention arises. In such cases, the Chair will communicate the reasons for such a session to the members and request their opinion on whether or not meetings should be held. If the Chair receives a majority vote in the affirmative, the Chair will fix a date and place for the special session in accordance with the principles of article 9 of these rules of procedure.
7. A member who is unable to attend a session may be represented by a proxy nominated by the authorized member of the respective supreme audit institution in writing to the Chair.
8. A simple majority of the members and duly appointed representatives shall constitute a quorum at all sessions. Each member, or duly appointed representative, shall be entitled to one vote. When the votes are equally divided, the proposal is to be dropped.
9. Sessions shall be held wherever the members decide after giving due consideration to such factors as economy and the convenience of the members.
10. The meetings of the Panel shall be closed. However, the Panel members may be accompanied by members of their staffs. The Chair may also invite such other persons to attend as may be desirable during the consideration of a particular item of business.

TopPANEL OFFICERS

11. The officers of the Panel shall be a Chair and a Vice-Chair. These officers shall be elected by the members at the end of each regular session to serve until the end of the next regular session.
12. The offices of Chair and Vice-Chair of the Panel shall at all times be held by a member of the Board of Auditors and by the external auditor of a specialized agency or IAEA.
13. The Chair’s position shall be automatically declared vacant if the Chair no longer holds membership in the Panel.
14. In the case of a vacancy in the office of the Chair, the Vice-Chair shall assume the office of Chair until the expiration of the predecessor’s term of office, and shall appoint an acting Vice-Chair from among the other Panel members, guided by the policy provisions of article 12 of these rules of procedure until an election may be held.
15. In the event that the Vice-Chair ceases to hold membership in the Panel, the Chair may designate an acting Vice-Chair as provided in article 14 above from among the other Panel members.

TopDUTIES OF THE PANEL OFFICERS

16. The Chair shall: (a) convene the sessions in accordance with articles 5 and 6 of these rules of procedure; (b) present the provisional agenda for the session; (c) conduct the meetings of the session; (d) issue such correspondence on behalf of the Panel as may be required; (e) represent the Panel before such bodies, committees, executive heads, etc. as may be required; and (f) appoint members to such Panel committees as considered necessary.
17. The Vice-Chair shall: (a) conduct the meetings during periods of absence of the Chair; (b) represent the Panel before such bodies, committees, executive heads, etc. as the Chair may request; and (c) assume the functions of Chair in the event that the Chair ceases to be a member of the Panel.

TopSECRETARY OF THE PANEL

18. The full-time Executive Secretary of the Board of Auditors, provided from the Office of the Controller in the United Nations Secretariat, shall also serve as Secretary of the Panel.
19. The duties of the Secretary are: (a) to maintain the official records of the Panel, which shall remain in the Secretary’s office and can be made available to members as needed; (b) to assist the Chair in the preparation of the agenda, the Chair’s memoranda and technical working papers for discussion during the session; (c) to take the necessary steps to ensure that the physical arrangements such as conference room and interpretation services are available; (d) to prepare the drafts of the session’s confidential summary record and the report of the session for approval by the Chair and the Panel members; (e) to keep the Panel members informed of such developments at United Nations Headquarters as policy decisions and actions of the General Assembly, the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions and the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, among other bodies, on matters of interest to the Panel; (f) to circulate the various annual audit reports, the Chair’s memoranda, working papers and other pertinent documentation to the members; (g) to maintain liaison with various bodies, such as the Joint Inspection Unit, and arrange such meetings with key personnel as the Chair requests; and (h) to perform such other relevant duties and responsibilities as may be assigned by the Chair with notification to the other members.
20. In case the Secretary is not able to perform the duties, the Chair will arrange through the Office of the Controller for a temporary Secretary until the full-time Secretary can resume the duties or a new appointment is made, as the case may be.

TopTOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

21. Each member shall advise the Chair, before the date established by the Chair and communicated to the members in the Chair’s memoranda, of items that the Chair should propose to be included on the agenda of the regular session of the Panel. Whenever necessary or practicable, explanatory notes should be provided in order that members may appreciate the purpose and scope of the item.
22. The Chair shall, not less than 30 days before the date fixed for the first meeting of the regular session, transmit to the members a provisional agenda for the session, which also shows the place and time of the meetings.
23. Additional items may be proposed for the agenda during the session and may be included therein at the time when they are proposed.

TopREPRESENTATION OF THE PANEL

24. As a rule, the Chair and Vice-Chair shall be the Panel’s representatives, but if for any reason it is impracticable for them to represent the Panel at any conference or meeting, the Chair may designate a member to represent the Panel. This rule of procedure shall not be construed as restricting the right of any member to attend any such conference or meeting, and it shall be the duty of the Chair to give notice to all members of the Panel of any such conference or meeting.
25. Whenever the Panel is represented before a committee or other body, it shall be the duty of the representative to make forthwith a report to any member not present.

TopREPORTS, MEMORANDA AND OTHER OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE OF THE PANEL

26. Unless duly authorized by the Panel so to do, no understanding given by any member shall be binding on the Panel.
27. Each member will promptly circulate among members of the Panel communications which each member either receives or originates having relationship to functions of the Panel.
28. No opinion, observation or recommendation of the Panel resulting from the meetings of the session shall be transmitted or published in any form other than that agreed upon by a majority of the members present at the session.
29. In the event that a member dissents from a decision, opinion, recommendation or conclusion of the majority of the Panel, that member may:
    1. Request that the fact of the dissension be officially noted in the summary records of the Panel; and/or
    2. Request that, in addition, the reasons for the dissension be recorded in the records of the Panel; and/or
    3. Set out in the Panel’s report, with a statement of reasons, the fact that a member is not in agreement with the consensus with respect to the particular matter; and, regardless of the mode that member selects to record the dissension, the other members shall so conduct themselves that the view is fairly represented in the event of any question arising with respect to the matter.
30. If a Panel decision is required between sessions and, in the opinion of the Chair, a special session is not required but the consent of the members is needed, the Chair may solicit the views of the members by direct communication and give effect to the majority opinion as a Panel decision.
31. Unless otherwise directed by the Panel, communications to each organization shall be transmitted over the signature of the member who is the auditor (or an auditor) of the organization.

TopOBSERVER STATUS GRANTED TO EX-MEMBERS OF THE PANEL FOR A LIMITED DURATION

32. Panel members who cease to perform the functions of external auditors of United Nations agencies would like to preserve their link with the Panel as observers. It helps the existing and incoming Panel members in learning from their experiences, transfers institutional knowledge seamlessly and prevents the exiting Panel members from losing their knowledge of the United Nations and related auditing standards.
33. Panel members who cease their external audit functions are therefore granted observer status for a limited duration of three years after the cessation of their membership. In the role of observers, they will participate fully in the Panel meetings but shall not exercise voting rights.

TopAMENDMENT

34. The Panel will periodically review the effectiveness of the rules of procedure and the quality and timeliness of information provided to members.