Source: whistleblowingnetwork.org
The Government of Slovakia has withdrawn its proposal to reform the whistleblowing law following calls from the EU and national and international civil society organisations.
The proposed changes would have seen the removal of whistleblower protection for law enforcement officers wishing to blow the whistle and significantly decreased the protections for all whistleblowers.
The changes were viewed by whistleblowing experts inside and outside the country as being in direct violation of the 2019 EU Directive on Whistleblowing.
A letter prepared by the Whistleblowing International Network (WIN) and a legal analysis of the proposed changes were sent to the Ministers of Justice and Interior, the General Prosecutor, the Speaker of the House and all members of the Slovakian Parliament, and copied to the President in early January.
In a press statement of the Whistleblowing International Network made on 18 February 2024, WIN announced:
โThe proposed amendments to Act No 54/2019 Coll. on the Protection of Whistleblowers in Slovakia are, in our view, incompatible with EU law, particularly the EU Whistleblower Directive. Importantly, they undermine the right of ordinary citizens of Slovakia to be protected from harassment or retaliation for honestly reporting suspected wrongdoing. The point of whistleblower protection is to ensure, in a democratic society, the free flow of information that allows for the responsible exercise of institutional authority.โ
The proposed legal reform will now go through the standard legislative process that the Government tried to bypass by presenting the new law to Parliament directly without consultation in December 2023. It was reported that the Minister of the Interior Matรบลก ล utaj Eลกtok (Hlas) agreed to withdraw the Bill but said wider expert discussions were needed as he perceived the law could be โmisused.โ