Mediaboss Marketing

12 October 2020

ELIG Grkaynak Attorneys-at-Law

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The Council of Europe has developed legal instruments forprotecting individuals who report or disclose information on actsand omissions in the workplace that represent a serious threat orharm to public interest. Several stories being emerged in theglobal media about whistleblowers being silenced against during theCOVID-19 pandemic, has brought special attention to RecommendationCM/Rec(2014)7 and EU Whistleblowing Directive on the Protection ofWhistleblowers both setting out the framework to facilitatingwhistleblowing protections.

Recommendation no. CM/Rec(2014)71("Recommendation") was adoptedby the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on April 30,2014. It stresses the vitality of whistleblowing and protection ofwhistleblowers in preventing wrongdoings in the workplace. Itaddresses key principles around whistleblowing to ensure thefollowing:

- diverse channels are available to report and discloseinformation that is potentially harming public interest,

- effective mechanisms are run to maintain an environmentwherein such disclosure and reports are processed promptly,

- whistleblowers are entitled to certain rights includingkeeping their identities confidential.

The EU Whistleblower Directive("Directive")2 entered into force on December 16,2019. Pursuant to this Directive, EU member countries are requiredto enact conforming national legislation on whistleblowers by 2021.Directive brings a high level protection to whistleblowers acrossmany sectors. As per the Directive, reports to the public areprotected when they concern imminent harm to public interest.

In some countries cases wherein several doctors and nurses havebeen fired and disciplined for expressing worries about their workconditions, also in relation to a lack of personal protectiveequipment, required certain responses to public accountability.Accordingly, as the current crisis highlights, every time awhistleblower is silenced, the risk to public health and safetyincreases proportionately.

Furthermore, the Council of Europe's Group of States againstCorruption (GRECO) acknowledges the crucial role of whistleblowersin managing the increased risk of corruption during the COVID-19outbreak. In this regard, the protection of whistleblowers in thehealth sector is explicitly listed as a key competency in the fightagainst corruption and gross mismanagement during the pandemic.

To conclude, importance of protecting access to information inthe context of a global emergency, when so many lives andlivelihoods are at risk should not be underestimated. Protectingwhistleblowers during pandemic is vital to keeping us all safer andinformed.

This article was first published in Legal Insights Quarterlyby ELIG Grkaynak Attorneys-at-Law in September 2020. A linkto the full Legal Insight Quarterly may be found here

Footnotes

POPULAR ARTICLES ON: Employment and HR from European Union

Link:
EU Practices On The Protection Of Whistleblowers During The COVID-19 Outbreak - Employment and HR - European Union - Mondaq News Alerts