Independence of Supreme Audit Institutions in Developing Countries: an analytical study of constitutions and governing laws, Almahdi Aboulqasim, Prof. Nassr Ahmad
Almahdi Aboulqasim Eisay Aboulqasim
PhD Student, Senior Employee
Managerial Control Authority
Tripoli
Libya
Professor Nassr Saleh Mohamad Ahmad
Accounting Department, Libyan Open University
Tripoli
Libya
Purpose: The study aims to analyse the content of constitutions and governing laws regulating the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) in four developing countries namely, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, and Jordan to identify the scope their independence.
Design/Methodology/Approach: Content analysis technique was used as the most common in such research, which enables qualitative data to be transformed into quantitative data and to be given objectivity. It relied on analysing the content of constitutional and legal texts using a hierarchical ratios where the ratio (0.00) represents a lack of independence and gradually increases to weak independence at (0.25), medium at (0.5), good at (0.75), and strong at (1.00). The four countries were selected based on the difference in the legal frameworks of each country.
Findings: The study found that there were slight differences in the independence of the SAIs. All the countries were in the middling position in terms of independence, with slight variation between them, as Tunisia was in first place and obtained 0.57, followed by Egypt and Jordan, which obtained a percentage of 0.50, and the lowest was Libya, which was 0.46.
Originality/Value: The study highlights legal gaps affecting the independence of SAIs, providing new insights into how these institutions can play a more effective role in enhancing governance and accountability in developing countries. It also offers an analytical framework that can be applied to assess the independence of SAIs in other contexts. This study is the first in the accounting literature to analyse the constitutions and legislation regulating the SAIs in developing countries.
Keywords: Constitutions and Governing Laws, Supreme Audit Institutions, Independence, Content Analysis, Developing Countries.