Persons reporting irregularities, colloquially known as whistleblowers, play an important role in combating corruption. Their reports contribute to the protection of the public interest, legal certainty and human rights. World Whistleblower Day, marked on 23 June, is therefore an opportunity to raise public awareness of the importance of the role of persons reporting irregularities, with the aim of strengthening their protection and preventing retaliation against them by the persons reported.
This is possible, first and foremost, by strengthening the trust of potential reporting persons that the merits of the reported irregularity will be examined and that any established irregularity will be remedied, without the reporting persons suffering retaliation by their employer or other negative consequences. At the same time, it is important that, when reporting, the reporting persons themselves have reasonable grounds to believe that the information on irregularities they report is true.
In order to ensure better and more effective protection of reporting persons themselves, it is also necessary to strengthen the entire system for the protection of persons reporting irregularities. For example, every person reporting irregularities should also be ensured secondary free legal aid, that is, free representation by a lawyer in court proceedings, which are often initiated against them. At present, persons reporting irregularities are entitled to primary free legal aid, while secondary free legal aid is approved depending on the means test, leaving reporting persons exposed to significant financial costs. Providing this form of free legal aid would also send a message to future reporting persons that due regard is given to their protection, including where it becomes necessary to protect their rights before the courts.
In addition, it is important to provide them with psychosocial support throughout the entire process, as well as to ensure legal protection for persons whose rights have been violated by their employer even though they did not report an irregularity, but the employer wrongly assumed that they had done so.
One of the most common problems in this area is the lack of understanding of the legal provisions and the steps that reporting persons need to take in order to exercise the rights and protection guaranteed by the Act on the Protection of Persons Reporting Irregularities. Therefore, in order to ensure more effective handling of reports of irregularities, it is necessary to provide training to all those involved in this process, from confidential persons, employers themselves and employees, to judges, judicial advisors, officials and civil servants in state attorney’s offices, lawyers and all other stakeholders. Training in this area is also regularly carried out by the institution of the Ombudswoman.
A key change for a more successful fight against corruption and for establishing an effective system for reporting irregularities is certainly raising awareness in society as a whole that reporting irregularities is not “snitching”, but a responsible and courageous act by an individual in the protection of the public interest.
Under the Act on the Protection of Persons Reporting Irregularities, the institution of the Ombudswoman has been designated as the competent authority for external reporting of irregularities. Within this mandate, the institution is required to receive reports of irregularities and forward them to the authorities authorised to act on the substance of the reported irregularity, such as the police, the State Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Croatia, the State Inspectorate, the Tax Administration and similar bodies. In doing so, it protects the identity of the reporting person and the confidentiality of data concerning the irregularity, the reporting person and the person reported, and provides feedback to reporting persons on the actions taken by the authorities to which it has forwarded the report of irregularities.
In addition, the Ombudswoman monitors the implementation of the Act on the Protection of Persons Reporting Irregularities by monitoring internal channels for reporting irregularities and collecting information from confidential persons, as well as information on cases of public disclosure of irregularities, national case law and the provision of emotional support to reporting persons by the Rehabilitation Centre for Stress and Trauma.
More information on this topic is available in the Ombudswoman’s Report.
