More information
Description
We aim to change the position of whistleblowers in the Czech Rep. Although it is an essential tool for the protection of public interests, whistleblowers are being overlooked or ostracized, they are often afraid to report unfair conduct due to some retaliation. We will provide immediate assistance as we extend our legal counseling to include other pro bono services. We will find out how the public perceives the whistleblower and why, and we will make the problem known to the public accordingly. We will strive to promote high-quality transposition of the EU directive to czech legal system.
Summary of project results
In the Czech Republic, whistleblowers are protected from summer 2023. This is after 10 years of trying to pass such a law. Not all the credit can be given to our project,
but the EU has had the most significant influence, The directive that the Czech Republic had to transpose and, in particular, the fine that the EU threatened to impose on
states that delayed. As Minister Blažek himself said during the meeting in the European Parliament, without this influence the current House of Commons would not have
passed the law. However, thanks to our 4 years of advocacy efforts, we managed to pass the law in a better version, without this pressure the law would have had limited
substantive scope, which in practice would have meant a large reduction in protection.
The second significant impact is the creation of the WB Center. While the numbers of submissions may not be as large as we anticipated, we have tried difficult cases
(UPDI, Morocco,) which are moving our work forward a lot. Another big impact is the cooperation established with the external channel at MSp. We need to continue to raise
awareness - some of our plans have not been realized, such as the podcast with whistleblower stories, and it turns out that the topic is simply still unknown to most people.
The project included two rounds of the public opinion survey How society perceives whistleblowers Inte beginning and in the end of the project), the information campaign
Whistleblowing/utututlat (created by young creatives using hyperbole and wordplay and responding to the predominantly negative perception of the topic) and several smaller
informational campaigns; the establishment of the Whistleblowing Centre, where together with partners we offer comprehensive assistance for whistleblowers, the large conference
(unfortunately online due to the covid period) and the coordination of all collaborating organisations in advocacy activities. Unfortunately, the law was passed at the end of the
project and much more time was taken up by advocacy activities to the detriment of others.
In the Czech Republic, whistleblowers are protected from summer 2023. This is after 10 years of efforts to adopt such a law. Not all the credit can be given to our project,
as the EU directive has had the most significant impact. Directive, which the Czech Republic had to transpose, and especially the fine that the EU threatened countries that
delayed. As Minister Blažek himself said during the discussion in the Parliament, without this influence, the current House of Representatives would not have passed the law.
However, thanks to our 4 years of advocacy efforts, we managed to pass the law in a better version, without this pressure the law would have had limited material scope, which
in practice would have led to a great reduction in protection.
The second important impact is the creation of the WB Center. While the numbers of cases may not be as high as we anticipated, we have experienced complex cases
(UPDI, Morocco,) which are moving our work forward a lot. Another big impact is the cooperation established with the external channel at the Ministry of Justice. We need to
continue to raise awareness – some of our plans have not been realized, such as the podcast with whistleblower stories, and it turns out that the topic is simply still unknown
to the majority of people. Opinion survey have shown that knowledge of the law has doubled compared to 2020.