The Auditor’s Commitment to Professional Care and its Impact on his Disciplinary Responsibility in Saudi laws
Dr. Ali Ben Salem Al Merry
Assist. Prof. of Commercial Law – Faculty of Law – University of King Faisal – KSA
Dr. Ahmad M. Awad
Assist. Prof. of Commercial Law – Faculty of Law – University of King Faisal – KSA
Abstract:
The auditor is the independent professional person charged with auditing the company’s accounts and expressing a neutral professional opinion regarding the fairness of the company’s financial statements. One of his most important commitments is to exercise «professional care» in the audit process. This commitment affects his other duties, and his legal responsibility, especially disciplinary responsibility, which is the focus of this paper.
The research raises a number of legal questions, the most prominent of which is the definition of an auditor, the definition of «professional care», its relationship with the related obligations, and its impact on his legal responsibility in its various forms. We used analytical, descriptive and comparative methods according to the research requirements, with mention of the relevant judicial rulings.
The research is divided into three sections and a conclusion; in the first topic: we presented the definition of the auditor, in the second: the definition of “professional care” and its impact on his other obligations, and in the third: the impact of “professional care” on the disciplinary responsibility of the auditor. The conclusion included a number of results; such as: The commitments of the auditor are not of one nature, his commitment to «professional care» is a fundamental criterion that affects all his obligations, throughout the audit process. Its impact appears even in obligations of a professional nature in which he is obliged to achieve a result; as achieving the result requires his commitment to professional care. We recommend amending a number of articles of the Chartered Accountants Law, such as: directly stipulating the commitment of the auditor to professional care, abolishing the prison sentence, doubling the fine penalty, and establishing a committee to resolve disputes that arise between auditors and their clients, affiliated to the Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants (SCOPA).
Keywords: chartered Accountant, shareholding company, Saudi Company’s Law, civil Responsibility, criminal responsibility, disciplinary responsibility.