The legal nature of internal audit in light of the regulations of the act on public finances

Abstract

Internal audit in the Polish legal system has only been functioning since 1 January 2002, and has been one way in which Poland has met its obligations towards the European Union.1 The first legal regulations regarding internal audit were based on the implementations of other legal systems, despite the fact that these frequently failed to meet the requirements of Polish realities. It will come as little surprise, therefore, that in the short history of internal audit in Poland, there have already been several attempts to harmonise it and adjust it to better suit the Polish legal system, as a result of which the role and range of internal audit gradually underwent an extension. This coincided in time with changes in public financial statutes, though the latter were connected with organisational changes in the public financial sector and the implementation of new systemic solutions meant to strengthen and improve the transparency of public finances.2 An analysis of the issues determined by the subject of this article requires a certain categorisation of them, as well as a discussion about the institutions of significance for internal audit under Polish law.