Increase in whistleblower reports in Poland as the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights begins receiving external reports.
An increase in whistleblowing to competent authorities – also known as external reporting- has been reported in Poland. In its summary of its first month of receiving reports from whistleblowers, the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights reported that it had received 75 reports from the 27 December 2024 to 31 January 2025.
The primary task of the Whistleblower Team of the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights is to receive, pre-verify and forward to the competent public authorities external whistleblower reports on breaches of the law in the areas covered by the Act in accordance with the procedure for receiving external reports established by the Commissioner for Human Rights. It also is tasked with providing whistleblowers – and facilitators – with advice on legal rights and remedies.
Key highlights:
- A total of 75 whistleblower reports were received by the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights (RPO) during the first month of the reporting channel’s operation.
- 19 of these reports were accepted as qualifying under the law, including one anonymous report, which was forwarded to the relevant authority.
- The reports primarily concerned breaches related to public finances, data protection and privacy, transport safety, and environmental protection.
- Thirteen whistleblowers requested legal advice regarding available protection measures.
Poland was delayed in transposing the Directive into its national law, with the provisions concerning the external reporting channel did not come into effect until December 2024.
For more information on Poland’s whistleblower protection efforts and the work of the Whistleblower Team, please visit here.