Why whistleblowing?

“New challenges”

IACA, Vienna

May 2014

Anna Myers

©PCaW

www.pcaw.co.uk

UNCAC - “reporting persons” “competent

authorities”

Whistleblowers – “public interest”

.... voluntary

…. good citizenship

The terminology

What is whistleblowing?

Council of Europe:

Reporting or disclosing information on acts and

omissions that represent a threat or harm to the

public interest

PCaW definition:

Raising a concern about wrongdoing, risk or

malpractice with someone in authority either

internally and/or externally (i.e. regulators,

media, MPs) [UK, Public Interest Disclosure Act]

Who are whistleblowers? Council of Europe Recommendation on the Protection of

Whistleblowers 2014:

any person who reports or discloses information

on a threat or harm to the public interest in the

context of their work-based relationship,

whether public or private

Organisation of American States, Model Law 2004:

an individual who warns of threats to the public

by serving as a "people’s witness."

Culture

Hierarchy

Expectations

Institutional capacity

International requirements

Legal framework

The challenges

Say anything?

Raise inside?

Go outside?

A concern

about

malpractice

The workplace dilemma

All too often inquiries into disasters and scandals show

that those working close to the problem (wrongdoing)

knew of the dangers before any damage was done but

had:

been too scared to speak up;

spoken to the wrong people (no alternative); or

raised the matter only to be ignored or punished.

The missed message

Wikileaks

Witness protection

Informant

The confused message

Anonymity

Hotlines

Source

Source: Council of Europe, Explanatory Memorandum to the Recommendation on

the Protection of Whistleblowers, 2014

Internal

disclosure

Regulatory

disclosure

Public disclosure

Striking the balance between protecting society & protecting the interest of employers

A step at a time

All persons

Workplace

associations

→ corpus of measures on transparency &

accountability

→ do not seek to punish frivolous, vexatious or

malicious disclosures

→ ensures public accountability safeguards

→ ensures plurality of protected routes –

decentralised and centralised

→ focus on public interest of information

Facilitating whistleblowing

→ Openness - ideal

→ Anonymity – always existed

→ Confidentiality – workable option

The difference

• Serbia – civil society + agencies + government

• Ireland – reform programme, transparency &

accountability

• USA – Office for Special Counsel

• Malaysia – MACC, lack of public accountability

in legal protection

• Indonesia – community actors bringing cases

to light

• India – I-PAID-A-BRIBE.com

Practical Examples

©PCaW 2013 - 00 44 20 7404 6609 Public Concern at Work www.pcaw.org.uk

©PCaW 2013 - 00 44 20 7404 6609

83% of workers blow the whistle up to 2 times then stop

15% of whistleblowers raise a concern externally. Only 60%

blow the whistle externally even on the third attempt. Only

22 individuals raised a concern four or more times. Half of

these (11) went outside their organisation

Newer employees are most likely to blow the whistle (39%

have less than two years' service).

60% of whistleblowers receive no response at all from

management - silence

The Inside Story: research headlines

Founding members:

Public Concern at Work – UK

Government Accountability Project – US

Open Democracy Advice Centre – SA

Federal Accountability Initiative for Reform – Canada

Whistleblowers Network - Germany

• international platform technical & legal exchange

• transmitting first-hand knowledge of whistleblower

protection across borders

• create new links with civil society

• develop international policy and legislative solutions

www.whistleblowingnetwork.org

THANK YOU for your attention