Whistleblower Protection Institution Overview of Georgian Legislation and international experience Maia Dvalishvili Deputy Head, Civil Service Bureau of Georgia

Whistleblower protection and fight against corruption Whistleblower protection institution is crucial for uncovering the issues that are directly linked to corruption, fraud, violation of ethical standards and other acts of wrongdoing Risk of corruption raises when whistleblower protection mechanisms are not properly supported Strong whistleblower protection mechanisms reduce the possibility of bribery, misuse of state owned property and other corruption cases

International conventions on whistleblower protection The United Nations Convention against Corruption Recommendation of OECD on Improving Ethical Conduct in the Public Service Council of Europe Civil and Criminal Law Conventions on Corruption The Inter-American Convention against Corruption African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption

Whistleblower protection regulation Independent law on whistleblower protection Criminal Code Sectoral laws such as the Anti-corruption law, Environmental Protection law, Labor Code and statutes Whistleblower protection is regulated by: Whistleblower protection norms exist in more than 50 countries

Legal Regulation of whistleblower Protection in Georgia First changes in the Law of Georgia on the Conflict of Interests and Corruption in Public Service have been made in June 2009 based on the recommendations of GRECO and OECD In April 2014 important amendments have been made to the law and the whistleblower protection mechanisms significantly improved The whistleblower protection institution in Georgia has more than 6 years of institutional basis

Definition of Whistleblowing Who can be a whistleblower? Civil servant Former civil servant What is whistleblowing? Whistleblowing is the disclosure of an existing or expected breach or violation of Georgian law or the Code of Ethics in the civil service by a civil servant or former civil servant within the service, and informing the relevant competent bodies or society.

Whom may the whistleblower address? External Sources Civil society Media Internal Sources Application reviewing body of the corresponding public institution Investigator Prosecutor Public defender

Review procedures for whistleblowing cases Review procedures (1) Application Reviewing Body should examine the case within the month from the submission of application The complaint concerning whistleblowing should not be examined by the person, who has been exposed or who personally, directly or indirectly is interested in the outcome of the case, or if there exists substantial objective circumstances which question the impartiality of this person

Review procedures for whistleblowing cases Review procedures (2) The judgment shall not be based on the circumstances, facts, evidence and arguments, which were not respectively analyzed and learned during the examination of the application The Application Reviewing Body shall issue judgment in the written form

Rights of the exposed persons Exposed person should be given information about the application against him/her and the existing evidence The exposed person should be able to respond to the complaint no later than 5 days before the final judgment is rendered The position of the exposed person should be reflected in the judgment of the Application Reviewing Body. 10

Anonymity of whistleblower Guarantee of anonymity is envisaged by the law Whistleblower’s identity is confidential unless the whistleblower provides written consent to the disclosure Violation of this provision by civil servant, if this is not crime or administrative offence, shall impose disciplinary sanctions

The presumption of good faith Whistleblowing must be made in good faith and should serve the detection of violation of the law or rules of ethics, prevention or suppression, and/or protection of the public interests. 12 Whistleblowing must be made in good faith Whistleblowing shall be deemed to have been made in good faith, until the contrary is proved.

Guarantees of whistleblower protection In case of whistleblowing, the whistleblower is protected from: Intimidation, oppression, coercion, humiliation, persecution, causing moral or material damage, using violence or threatening with violence, discrimination, or any other illegal act The whistleblower may not be subject to administrative procedures, civil action, prosecution, retaliatory measures or be held responsible otherwise for the circumstances related to the facts of whistleblowing 13 Whistleblowers should be protected from prosecution because they do a public service, and in case of prosecution must have the right to protection

The project “Whistleblower Protection Institution in Georgia” Aims of the project: Effective implementation of whistleblower protection legislation Raising awareness on whistleblower protection mechanisms among civil servants and public in general Training of civil servants Assessing the effectiveness of current legislation

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