06.03.2023

REPORTING FINANCIAL AND OTHER ABUSE

At the beginning of February of this year, the Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers or Publicly Disclosing Information on Violations, adopted by the 48th National Assembly, was promulgated.

This law regulates the conditions, order and measures for the protection of persons in the public and private sectors who report or publicly disclose information about violations of Bulgarian legislation or acts of the European Union that endanger or damage the public interest and the right of the European union, as well as the terms and conditions for submitting and considering such signals or publicly disclosed information.

The adoption of such a law was also necessary in order to comply with the law of the European Union for the introduction of the requirements of the European legislation into the national legislation.

What are the basic rights of citizens according to this new law and how can they be applied?

The purpose of the law is to ensure the protection of persons in the public and private sectors who report or publicly disclose information about violations of Bulgarian legislation or acts of the European Union, which became known to them during or on the occasion of the performance of their work or official duties or in another work context.

It is important to note that the law provides answers to a number of fundamental and key questions, such as the starting point from which the whistleblower can enjoy protection, the channels (forms) for reporting, the prohibition of retaliatory actions by the other country and other key wording.

Protection under the law applies to reports or public disclosure of information about violations of Bulgarian legislation or the acts of the European Union specified in the annex to the law in the field of public procurement, financial services, products and markets and the prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism, transport safety, environmental protection, public health, consumer protection, protection of privacy and personal data, security of networks and information systems and others, which are detailed in the normative act.

The law also applies to reports or public disclosure of information about violations of Bulgarian legislation in the field of rules for payment of due public state and municipal receivables, labor legislation and legislation related to the performance of public service.

Whistleblowing is established by law as a personal right of the worker or employee and cannot be transferred.

In view of the possibility of quickly preventing a violation or removing the consequences of such a violation, the signal should be submitted as a priority through an internal reporting channel.

In the event that there is a reasonable assumption that the whistleblower is at risk of retaliatory discriminatory actions, and that no effective measures will be taken to verify the whistleblower, the whistleblower may be submitted through an external submission channel.

In view of the high public interest in preventing violations of Bulgarian legislation and acts of the European Union, public disclosure of information about such violations is encouraged. The persons publicly disclosing such information, in addition to the protection under this law, also enjoy the protection of free dissemination of information established in the Constitution.

Reference:

Whistleblower Protection Act