At its sitting on 7 March, the Cabinet of Ministers considered and supported the draft law on whistleblower protection that was developed by the working group of the State Chancellery. It will aim at ensuring the protection of whistleblowers in order to promote whistleblowing for violations and prevention in the public interest. A number of other European and world countries also have a special mechanism to protect people who report on the infringements found in the public interest.
A whistleblower within the meaning of the prospective law is a person who spreads alarm about misconduct in his/her workplace in the public interest. It is in the public interest to voice alarm, for example, about misuse of funding or property, corruption, tax evasion, risks to public health, environmental or construction safety.
From 9 -11 October 2017, an international conference "Towards Openness, Responsibility and Better Governance: Whistleblowing and Fighting Corruption" will be held. The objective of this conference is to discuss the issues relating to whistleblowing and protection of whistleblowers, progress in reducing corruption, as well as to assess Latvia's past experience and examples of good practice in other countries.
The conference will support the ongoing work on the Whistleblower Protection Law that was adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers and passed for consideration to the Saeima. The participants of the conference will discuss how to develop effective and safe whistleblowing channels, ensure optimal consideration of whistleblowers' reports and issues relating to competence of the institutions involved, as well as discuss the measures to ensure the protection of whistleblowers.
The conference is organized by the Latvian School of Public Administration within the framework of the ESF project No.3.4.2.0 / 15 / I / 002 “Professional Development of Human Resources of the Public Administration for Preventing Corruption and Reducing Shadow Economy” in cooperation with the the State Chancellery, Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau and Saeima of the Republic of Latvia.
Conference video: