The Board of Audit has concluded that the Supreme Court violated accounting law by certifying a case-management system as passing inspection and paying the contractor about ¥1.4 billion, even though the delivered work did not meet its specifications.
The board said the payments, totaling ¥1,380,820,000, were improper. It found that Supreme Court staff produced inspection records stating the system had passed when the requirements for finishing testing had not been met and incomplete manuals had been delivered.
The system, called RoootS, holds case information and other functions for court employees. The Supreme Court signed a contract in April 2022 with a private company chosen through open competitive bidding to design and develop it, and later signed further contracts to modify the system.
The board examined whether the contracts were handled properly. It said the Supreme Court lacked awareness of the need to comply with accounting law and keep proper accounts.
“We will thoroughly educate and guide our staff and work to prevent a recurrence.”Takeshi Someya, director-general of the Supreme Court's finance bureau
The finding places the country's highest court on the wrong side of the accounting rules that the Board of Audit exists to enforce across government.