By: Andre de Oliveira Navarro

The independence of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) is widely recognized as a cornerstone of effective public oversight. The Lima Declaration¹ (INTOSAI P-1) emphasized that SAIs “can only accomplish their tasks objectively and effectively if they are independent of the audited entity and protected against outside influence.” Building on this principle, the Tribunal de Contas do Estado de Goiás (TCE-GO), Brazil’s state-level Court of Accounts, has invested in transforming the fundamental principles of ISSAIs into concrete operational routines. This effort has aimed not only at raising methodological quality but also at safeguarding independence in practice, ensuring that oversight activities remain resistant to political, economic, and institutional pressures.