For the first time, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (the NACP) issued improvement notices to managers of institutions with regard to violation of whistleblower confidentiality rights.
Employees of the oblast state administration and the district council disclosed information about whistleblowers to persons whose corrupt actions were mentioned in the reports of these whistleblowers. As the disclosure of such information is a breach of the Law of Ukraine “On Corruption Prevention”, the NACP issued instructions to the heads of the above agencies, requesting an internal investigation to find out causes and conditions that contributed to the violation of whistleblower confidentiality rights.
“Ensuring confidentiality is an important guarantee of whistleblower protection, — indicated NACP Head, Oleksandr Novikov, — it was for the first time in the NACP’s history that it issued improvement notices with regard to protection of whistleblower rights to confidentiality and we hope for steadfast implementation thereof”.It is worth mentioning that the draft law No. 3450 approved by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in the first reading provides for the creation of a unified portal to receive whistleblower reports. The portal will ensure high standards for information protection, which will guarantee confidentiality and anonymity thereof, and will mitigate risks of unauthorized access to reports.
