Source: BTA :: Whistleblower Protection Act Revisions Passed Conclusively
On 24 April 2025, Bulgaria’s Parliament passed a government-proposed bill to amend and supplement the Act on the Protection of Persons Submitting Alerts or Publicly Disclosing Information about Violations.
The revised version limits the exclusions from protection under the Act to the confidentiality of communications between lawyers and their clients, known as ‘legal professional privilege.’ As a result, lawyers, notaries, enforcement agents, and legal consultants, who are bound by professional secrecy, will be protected when reporting violations of Bulgarian or EU law that threaten or harm the public interest.
Another amendment allows service providers, in addition to factory and office workers, to benefit from the provisions of the law. Moreover, instead of documenting oral reports in written transcripts, these reports can now be archived by making a recording in a durable and retrievable format.
The revisions also establish a standing ethics committee, elected by the Municipal Council from among its members, to handle alerts regarding unethical conduct. Alerts concerning the corruption or conflicts of interest of municipal councillors will not be addressed by local ethics committees; instead, they will be forwarded to the appropriate authorities.