The public interest disclosure/whistleblower report

As of 1 January 2014, it is the duty of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights has been authorized to establish and operate an electronic system handling and registering public interest disclosures (whistleblower reports).

When submitting a public interest report submitted via the protected electronic system, the Whistleblower must provide his/her name and address, but he/she may request anonymity, i.e. that his/her personal data be accessible only to the Commissioner of Fundamental Rights and his office. If it becomes obvious that the whistleblower acted in bad faith, and this leads to a crime or a violation; caused damage or other rights violations to others, their data may be transferred to the body or person authorized to initiate or conduct the relevant procedure.

The Commissioner of Fundamental Rights Office forwards the public interest disclosure/report and its attachments – in the case of a request for this, an extract without personal data – to the competent authority for inquiring it within 8 days.

Public interest disclosures shall be assessed within thirty days after their receipt by the body entitled to proceed. The competent authority records into the electronic system the information about the measures has been taken during the investigation/inqury, which - upon request - the office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights (hereinafter: OCFR) also informs the whistleblower by mail.

If the investigation/inquiry is expected to last longer than thirty days, the whistleblower shall be informed thereof, specifying simultaneously the expected date by which the public interest disclosure will be assessed, as well as the reasons for the prolonged investigation.

The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights shall disclose on the Internet a brief summary of the substance, excluding personal and specific institutional data, and the status of each public interest disclosure submitted through the electronic system, on the basis of using their unique identification number. When a case has been closed, the name of the body involved in the public interest disclosure and, if different, the name of the body entitled to proceed shall also be made available.
 
A whistleblower may submit a petition requesting the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights to remedy a perceived impropriety if

• a public interest disclosure is qualified as unfounded by the competent authority,
• the whistleblower does not agree with the conclusions of the inquiry,
• according to the whistleblower, the competent authority has failed to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into a public interest disclosure.