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The article examines the provisions of the U.S. False Claims Act (FCA) governing the recovery of improperly paid money; seeking to identify and aggressively report fraud and false claims by individuals and companies providing goods and services to the government. It reports ways in which FCA prohibits false or fraudulent claims for payment to the Federal Government and provides a civil cause of action.

The article discusses the U.S. Constitution's Statement and Account Clause in relation to a federal reporting obligation for government agencies in America, focusing on transparency and accountability in government, as well as fiscal oversight by the U.S. Congress. The reporting processes at the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, the nation's Treasury Department, and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget are assessed. Efforts to prevent government abuse and corruption are also examined.

The article is an attempt to examine what meaning is attributed by the Constitutional Tribunal to the concept of judgment on the basis of Article 79 (1) of the Constitution. The content of the so reconstructed definitions has been referred to those attributes which, in terms of the doctrine of administrative law, are typical of material and technical actions of public administration authorities. As a result of this comparison, it is concluded that the basic criteria for clarification by the Court of the term "judgment" (induction of direct or indirect legal effects, the result of application of a legal norm, the imperious character) are also applicable to the material and technical activities. Therefore, the arguments used by the Polish constitutional court, which are assumed to justify the exclusion of those actions from the scope of Article 79 (1) of the Constitution, are not sufficient. Their validity may be undermined by the counterarguments raised by the legal doctrine of administrative law. Accordingly, it is proposed to use such a criterion which leaves no doubt that a material-technical action by an authority is not a judgment within the meaning of Article 79 (1) of the Constitution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the operation of New Zealand's tax avoidance laws and its improvement. It discusses specific recommendations with the government and other interested parties. It informs that the growing concern for general anti-avoidance provision (GAAR) is the stimulation for this report. It depicts that GAAR is not efficient means of combating tax avoidance by the government so it suggests legislative means as a better way.

This article turns the question about socioeconomic development away from its usual goal of economic growth and argues that governance is another appropriate measure of economic development. Instead of econometric analyses of country-level data, this article shows how aggregating project-level data to a sector- based approach is a new methodological tool for determining whether project and policy objectives translate into improved governance. Using the World Bank's public administration, law and justice projects and panel-corrected time series, this article finds that the World Bank's public administration, law and justice projects inconsistently improve governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The academic field of Public Administration is quite diverse in Europe, ranging from applications of basic public law on the one hand to analyses of the ‘hollow state’ on the other (where it is difficult to find any clear-cut ‘public’ organisation). Nonetheless, in the light of societal changes towards late modernity, post-modern conditions and globalisation, there are some common challenges that sooner or later may knock at the door of all universities teaching Public Administration: how might we best conceptualise Public Administration as a field?; what are the field's relations to practice?; how can we best teach our field in a globalising world?; how adequate are our theories?; and how can we reach out and meet the demands to come down from our ivory tower?European Political Science (2008) 7, 84–97. doi:10.1057/palgrave.eps.2210181 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following a wave of state-adopted tax and expenditure limitations (TELs), in 1992 the state of Colorado amended its constitution with the strictest TEL to date. Called the Taxpayer Bill of Rights and known as TABOR, the amendment has limited the size and scope of Colorado governments. Praised as a restraint on unbridled government growth in good economic times, TABOR reared its highly restrictive head as the state economy turned downward. The central issue explored is how binding tax and expenditure limitations affect the state’s ability to weather economic recessions and employ sound fiscal management practices. As in most institutional arrangements, the devil is in the details. The analysis presented here reveals that binding limitations create perverse incentives for budgetary actors to earmark, privatize, and shift responsibilities to other jurisdictions, which ultimately combine to reduce the state government’s ability to perform and to maintain sound fiscal management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The figure of the public debt constitutes one of the basic elements of the public finances. Nevertheless, its peculiarities, as opposed to other types of public revenues, have motivated the development of different theories about the scientific treatment that the Financial and Tax Law discipline must give to this type of public revenues. Especially important for the scientific analysis of the public debt is the examination of both the material and formal limitations that the constitutional text establishes and, in particular, its relation with the principle of legal reservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the presence and role of women directors in new corporate governance. A study found that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act does not necessarily encouraged a significant increase in the number of women directors. The vital role of women on corporate boards has been emphasized. The failure of women to advance to executive levels within a corporation is considered one of the major reasons for their slow advancement on the board.

Examines the developments and clarifications in the public sector accounting in New Zealand. Inclusion of the requirements for public sector accounting in the legislation; Adoption of accrual accounting and reporting on performance; Origin of the reforms; Foundation of the reforms in user needs; Improvement of the quality of external financial reporting practices in the public sector.

‘Citizens have the right to call all Public Officials to Account for their Management of Affairs’. Article 15 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, Paris, 1789 Adequate published government financial information is an important contribution to the effective and efficient allocation of society's resources and the process of accountability. Many of the studies on the objectives of government financial information, whether based on government-inspired work, on the work of professional institutions or on the studies of academic commentators, contain assertions based on explicit or implicit assumptions about the rights of users. This paper seeks to examine the basis of some of these assertions. It is in three parts. First, the practical and conceptual problems of dealing with this issue are discussed. Second, a variety of approaches from the accounting literature are examined. Third, the historical philosophical background to the issues of rights in relation to financial information are set out. Finally, some conclusions concerning the nature of assertions about rights with regard to government financial statements will be given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a discussion on the topic, College Education As a Requirement for Certified Public Accountants, The New York Experience. This is the second time that the author has been invited to present a study related to the topic. He discusses the result of the examination of 180 candidates from fifteen schools in several states of the U.S. and of ten times as many from New York State schools. This convinces the author, that students who have spent four years in the day classes or six years in the evening classes in the schools have been exposed to a quantity and quality of instruction which should have prepared them for the examinations in Commercial Law, Theory of Accounts, and the theoretical parts of auditing. The author does not believe, that schools were or could be prepared to teach successfully the subject of Practical Accounting or the practical part of auditing. A high school diploma does not insure that the holder has satisfactorily completed a four year course in that school.

The title of this paper, College Education As a Requirement for Public Accountants in New York State, is rather ambiguous. It suggests that all public accountants practicing in New York must meet certain scholastic requirements. Of course, this is not true. There is no law in New York State restricting the practice of public accounting to certified public accountants (CPA). The college education requirement mentioned in the title refers to the New York CPA law which became effective from January 1, 1938. This law specifies that candidates for the examination leading to certification must be graduates of colleges or schools of accountancy registered by the State Education Department as maintaining satisfactory standards. To meet satisfactory standards, a school must offer a four-year course, or its equivalent, in cultural and business subjects including 24 hours of accounting, 8 hours each of business law and finance, and 6 hours of economics. This law, which for the first time set minimum scholastic requirements at college level, did not become effective until January 1, 1938.

According to the author accounting profession would be strengthened and the public interest would be better served, if all persons who present themselves as practitioners of public accountancy would be required by law, first to demonstrate their professional abilities and then to act in accordance with recognized standards of practice. Accountancy is not an exact science. There are no set rules or formulae, which can be used as a guide by the untrained. It follows, then, that the public accepts the practitioner pf public accountancy in good faith as one properly qualified to render a specialized service, important to the welfare of business and, consequently to the general public. The present generation should accept this, even though it means that they will encounter the many difficulties concomitant with such a drastic change as the regulation of practice through restrictive legislation. They should work and strive with all the ability they possess and the strength of character, which has been built into their profession to bequeath to the certified public accountants of the future the gracious heritage of a unified profession.