Additional conditions, obligations and impediments for the contracting of services to a natural or legal person for the support of the Internal Audit Units (IUs) or the exercise of the internal audit function

On 17-06-2022, the Joint Decision of the Ministers of Interior and Finance No. 358/9388/2022 (B΄ 3093) of the Ministry of Interior and Finance entitled "Additional conditions, obligations and obstacles for the contracting of services to a natural or legal person for the support of the Internal Audit Units (IUs) or the exercise of the internal audit function, when there is no Internal Audit Unit, according to par. 4 and 6 of Article 9 of Law No. 4795/2021".The above-mentioned joint ministerial decision sets strict conditions for the selection of natural or legal persons to whom the support of Internal Audit Units or the exercise of the internal audit function in public sector bodies is entrusted, provides for basic obligations of these persons in the context of the exercise of internal audit services, defines obstacles and grounds for exclusion, in addition to those set out in the provisions of Law No. 4412/2016, in order to safeguard the independence of the internal audit function and provide for the obligations of the contracting authority and the contractor, respectively, in case a conflict of interest arises that affects the impartiality and independence of the contractor during the performance of the service.