PRESS RELEASE BY THE NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE National Audit Office (Malta) to Host INTOSAI Development Initiative Experts’ Meeting on Legal Support for Supreme Audit Institutions

This week, the National Audit Office (NAO) of Malta is hosting an important event organised by the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) as part of its LEG SAI initiative – an initiative aimed at strengthening legal units and practitioners within Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs).

Legal support is essential for SAIs to effectively carry out their mandates, particularly in advocating for their independence. Recognising this, IDI has been gathering insights into the role of legal support functions within SAIs and identifying best practices to guide their establishment and maturity assessment. As part of this effort, the third experts' meeting for LEG SAI is taking place in Malta this week from 24–27 February 2025, bringing together legal experts from the SAIs of Czech Republic, Lesotho, Malta, Poland, and South Africa. Dr Amanda Borg will be representing our Office.

The primary objectives of the meeting are to discuss and share good practices in legal risk management within SAIs, develop a repository of legal practices on SAI independence, and formulate a maturity model to assist SAIs in implementing effective legal support. Each delegation will be presenting an overview of the key legal risks faced by the SAI, the mechanism in place to manage these risks, and how legal risk management fits into the wider institutional risk management framework.

The meeting commenced today with a welcome address delivered by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Anġlu Farrugia, and the Auditor General, Charles Deguara. They highlighted the critical role of legal frameworks in safeguarding SAI independence, strengthening good governance within the public sector, and upholding the broader values of democracy.

The National Audit Office extends its sincere appreciation to the Speaker and the Clerk of the House of Representatives for kindly providing the excellent facilities of the House of Representatives for this event.