Source: just.ee
The Ministry of Justice has sent a Draft Bill to transpose the EU Directive on whistleblowing to public consultation.
Stakeholders and ministries, as well as the public, were invited to comment on a detailed intention or “Teavitaja kaitse seaduse seaduseelnõu väljatöötamise kavatsus” to implement the Directive into national law in September 2020. Almost a year later, the intention has been formed into a Draft Bill that the public can comment until September 8. Parliamentary discussions still await after this period.
Whistleblower protection experts will now analyse the key provisions, which include:
- Expanding the material scope of protection to a wide range of breaches occurring in a course of work
- Prohibition of retaliation including for anonymous reports
- Penalties for use of coercive measures
The Bill also emphasises penalties where a person reports knowingly false information, to protect organisations from ‘misreporting.’
Carina Paju, Executive Director of Transparency International Estonia, which have campaigned to raise awareness of the importance of robust whistleblowing protections since 2009 said:
“Overall, we are happy to see the Draft Bill expand the scope of the Directive to include protecting reporting of any illegal activity that people have witnessed in a workplace setting. Especially in a country with various views on whistleblowing, it is important to get the law right the first time – to break taboos and protect those who dare to raise their voice.”