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Description
"Sabiedrība par atklātību - Delna" has been working with whistleblowers for more than 16 years. In the first Whistleblowing Law, which came into force in 2019, associations already played a serious role in the protection of whistleblowers. On February 4, 2022, the new Whistleblower Law came into force, which expands the competence of the associations, including Delna, and allows associations to present whistleblowers in institutions and court without the need for additional formal authorization. On this Delna is in a unique position in terms of opportunities for support to whistleblowers.
Delna Whistleblower Center has been informed that certain authorities are unable to apply the provisions of the Whistleblower Law properly, which poses a threat to the public interests, as full protection of whistleblowers is not ensured and that there is a risk that the law-breakers will remain undetected and not responsible for their actions. In Delna''s day-to-day work Delna has observed that institutions lacks understanding and knowledge of the Whistleblower Law and its application, but in this case there is a real threat to the whistleblowing system as a whole and to the public interest, that can be avoided only by Delna''s involvement in the resolution of the case.
The result of the project is to promote the correct implementation and interpretation of the norms of the new Whistleblower Law adopted in 2022 by institutions, the application of the protection guarantees provided by law to whistleblowers, and the prosecution of those responsible for the violations. The aim of the project is to effectively use the competencies specified in the new Whistleblower Law of 2022 for associations and to contribute to the correct application of the provisions of the Whistleblower Law, as well as to strengthen the credibility of laws, state institutions and local governments and reduce corruption.
Summary of project results
While advising whistleblowers Transparency International Latvia had noticed that public authorities lack understanding of the Whistleblowing Law and its application and they often failed to apply the provisions of the Whistleblowing Law correctly, causing real threat to the whistleblowing system as a whole. Thus the aim of the ACF Action project was to ensure the involvement of civil society organisations to promote understanding and correct practice of the Whistleblowing Law by providing both consultative and educational support to public institutions.
During the project Transparency International Latvia:
1) gathered the issues related to the implementation of the Whistleblowing Law,
2) in cooperation with journalists investigated two malpractices,
3) published guidelines explaining what responsible persons should take into account when handling whistleblowers'' reports,
4) summarised and published particularly relevant information that every potential whistleblower should know and that the competent authorities should take into account when examining a whistleblower reports,
5) held one-to-one meetings with the leading national authorities in the field of whistleblower reporting and organised training seminars.
As a result, public authorities are offered a common approach to dealing with whistleblowers'' reports and after the project public authorities have acknowledged that the understanding of the whistleblowing system has evolved compared to what it was at the very beginning of the law''s operation. In the long-term, this project contributed to promoting the correct application of the provisions of the new Whistleblowing Law, strengthened the credibility of CSOs, public authorities and local governments and reduced corruption.
This small-scale Action project successfully implemented urgent advocacy initiative addressing issue concerning wider public, and project activities strongly demonstrated that civil society can be an important "colleague" of public authorities and can successfully support public authorities. The issues identified in the project will be used in further work by project promoter and in its attempts to work with the State Chancellery to further amend the Whistleblowing Law.