Have you compared the concept of "whistleblower" in the context of Ukrainian and European legislation? We decided to analyze these two concepts together with you.
According to Ukrainian legislation, a whistleblower is:
- individual;
- believes that the information is reliable;
- reported possible facts of corruption or corruption-related offenses, other violations of the Law of Ukraine "On Prevention of Corruption" committed by another person, if such information became known to him/her in connection with either work, or professional, economic, public, scientific activities , or service, or training, or participation in the procedures prescribed by the law, which are mandatory for starting such activity, service or training.
And what is there in the European legislation?
In the European Union, the term "whistleblower" is used in a broader sense in Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of European Union law. Whistleblowers are:
- persons working in the private or public sector;
- received information about violations within the scope of work (it does not matter whether they continue to work or have finished working in the organization in which the violation is reported);
- persons who report a violation, information about which was received in the process of hiring or other negotiations preceding during the conclusion of a contract;
- also individuals who have received information in areas such as public procurement, financial services, products and markets, as well as prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing, product safety and compliance, transport safety, environmental protection, radiation protection and nuclear safety, food safety, animal health and welfare, public health, network and information system security and other areas defined in the Directive.
It is obvious that in international and Ukrainian legislation the concept of "whistleblower" has different meaning. In international practice, a whistleblower is a person who provides information about any illegal activity that may harm public interests. That is, whistleblowers stand on the watch of the society and fulfill their civic duties by reporting any unethical, wrong or illegal activity that may cause harm to the society.
In the Ukrainian legislation, the definition is more narrow. That is why, in the context of European integration, Ukraine should harmonize the requirements of national legislation with international norms and expand the concept of "whistleblower" and the protection of whistleblowers in a wider range of spheres, not limiting them only to the sphere of corruption.
