Office of the Auditor General of Norway | |
Type: | Government agency |
Foundation: | 1816 |
Location: | Oslo, Norway |
Key People: | Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen (Chairman) |
Area Served: | Norway |
Industry: | Auditing |
Num Employees: | approx 450 (2023) |
Parent: | Parliament of Norway |
Homepage: | www.riksrevisjonen.no |
The Office of the Auditor General of Norway (Norwegian: Riksrevisjonen) is the state auditor of the Government of Norway and directly subordinate of the Parliament of Norway. It is responsible for auditing, monitoring and advising all state economic activities, including financial audits, performance audits and corporate control. Located in Oslo, it is led by a board of five auditors general elected for four years and from 2014 it has been led by Per-Kristian Foss. It is regulated by the Auditor General Act of June 1, 2005.
The office has about 460 employees, mostly recruited among economists, lawyers and social scientists.
The office dates back to 1814 when the Constitution of Norway §75 stated that there were to be appointed five auditors by the Parliament of Norway with the first auditors being appointed in 1816. In 1822 the Ministry of Auditing (Revisjonsdepartementet) was created as a supplement to the office that originally bore the name Statsrevisjonen (lit. the State Auditing). When the current Parliament of Norway Building opened in 1866 the office followed along and stayed in the building until 1890. In 1918, the system is changed and all state auditing is taken over by the office, removing the ministry. In 1938, with 64 against 63 votes, the Parliament of Norway changed the office's name to the current Riksrevisjonen (lit. the National Auditing). In 1962, the auditing of the Norwegian State Railways, Telegrafverket and the Postal Service were included in the office.
The Auditor General is the head of the Office.