e24702_SN004
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on an individual basis to any right-holder other than himself. The terms for the exercise
of that right shall be determined by decree.
2. Any group of members representing at least one tenth of the membership may take
legal action for the appointment of one or more experts to be responsible for submitting a
report on one or more management operations. The report shall be addressed to the
requestor, to the public prosecutor and to the organs of the society. The report shall be
annexed to the report drawn up by the auditor(s) for the purposes of the first general
assembly.
Article 124. Administrative auditing. – 1. A standing committee shall be established
to oversee collective management societies, consisting of five members appointed by
decree for a term of five years:
(a) a judge in the Court of Audit, who shall be chairman, appointed by the First President
of the Court of Audit;
(b) a Councilor of State, appointed by the President of the Council of State;
(c) a judge of the Court of Cassation, appointed by the First President of the Court of
Cassation;
(d) a member of the General Inspectorate of Finances, appointed by the Minister of
Finance;
(e) a representative appointed by the Minister of Culture.
2. The committee may seek the assistance of experts appointed by its chairman. It shall
audit the accounts and the management of the collective management societies. To that
end, the directors of those societies shall be required to assist the committee,
communicate any documents to it and respond to any request for information necessary
for the performance of its tasks. For operations involving information technology, the
right of communication shall imply access to software and data, as well as the right to
request the transcription thereof by any suitable processing method in documents directly
usable for auditing purposes. The committee may carry out its audit on the basis of
documents or on site.
3. Failure by any director of a collective management society to respond to information
requests made by the committee, the obstruction in any way of the committee's
performance of its tasks or the intentional communication to it of inaccurate information
shall be punishable by a prison term of six months to one year and a fine of one million
CFA francs.
4. The committee shall submit an annual report to the President of the Republic, the
National Assembly, the Government and the general assemblies of the collective
management societies.
5. The organization and operation of the committee, and the procedures applicable
before it, shall be determined by decree.
6. In addition, the collective management society shall communicate its annual statement
of accounts to the Minister of Culture and shall bring to his attention, at least two months
before consideration by the general assembly, any draft amendment to its statutes or to
the rules for collection and distribution of royalties. It shall address to the Minister of
Culture, at the Minister’s request, any document relating to the collection and distribution
of royalties and copies of agreements concluded with third parties. The Ministry of