Source: xnet-x.net
An international coalition of experts on whistleblowing has raised concerns about the whistleblower protection law expected to be passed soon in Spain.
The new law is being introduced to transpose the EU Directive on whistleblowing.
Whistleblower protection experts Xnet, Whistleblowing International Network (WIN), the Government Accountability Project, The Signals Network, and Blueprint for Free Speech want to express their concern for the Spanish Government’s lack of “serious political commitment” to transpose the EU Directive on the protection of whistleblowers.
Tomorrow, the Spanish Senate will vote on the draft whistleblowing law to protect whistleblowers (Ley reguladora de la Protección de las personas que informen sobre infracciones normativas y de lucha contra la corrupción) which was approved on 23 December 2022 at the last plenary session of the Congress of 2022.
WIN – of which Xnet, the Government Accountability Project, The Signals Network, and Blueprint for Free Speech are associate members – warn that if approved in its current form and without the amendments the bill could be problematic for whistleblowers and even challengeable for not meeting the minimum requirements of the EU rules.
Anna Myers, Executive Director of WIN, and Tom Devine, Legal Director of the Government Accountability Project, said:
“It is alarming to see policymakers in Spain fail once again to understand the value and importance of protecting whistleblowers as one of the most effective ways to prevent corruption and identify abuses of power early enough to stem the damage. If they did, they would be fighting to ensure Spain had the best law in Europe. Instead, the message to the people of Spain is “speak up at your own risk.”
Digital rights NGO Xnet said:
“According to Blueprint for Free Speech’s national population survey, here and here, the majority of Spanish citizens want real protections for whistleblowers.
According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index report (2022), this is the second consecutive year Spain has seen an increase in corruption. The proposed whistleblowing law which should serve as an effective and progressive instrument to fight corruption is now merely a formal exercise to comply with the minimal transposition required by the EU.”
WIN and Xnet outlined their concerns for the new legal protection, which include that the law:
- only protects the reporting of “serious and very serious” acts
- only protects whistleblowers choose specified channels, which may not always be appropriate
- does not protect from retaliation those who disclose information that is already, even partially, already on the public record
- does not properly provide immunities from criminal liability
- does not protect NGOs as facilitators of whistleblowing disclosures
- does not establish proper technical requirements for reporting systems
- does not grant the Independent Whistleblower Protection Authority necessary powers, nor include right to review or appeal its decision
WIN wrote to the European Commission to warn that Spain’s draft law is not only “dysfunctional” and “unclear”, but that it “violates” and risks “undermining” key aspects of the EU Directive.
More details of the proposed amendments to the law can be found on Xnet’s website.