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The Whistleblowing Bill and
APPG Reports
Read the text of the Whistleblowing Bill
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Read the text of the Whistleblowing Bill 〰️
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The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Whistleblowing was launched in July 2018 with the aim to put whistleblowing at the top of the agenda. Whistleblowers remain the vital element of a transparent society without whose voice many more unethical activities and crimes would remain unknown, with far reaching impacts on our society and communities.
This report examines how whistleblowers fare at Employment Tribunals. In 1998, with the implementation of the Public Interest Disclosure Act through the Employment Rights Act, Employment Tribunals became the de facto bearers of justice for whistleblowers. Today, we question whether that is indeed the most appropriate institutional arrangement to, on the one hand redress and deter reprisals against whistleblowers, and on the other hand address the wrongdoing that whistleblowers raise concerns about.
Read the All-Party Parliamentary Group report: “Making whistleblowing work for society”
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The notion of drawing attention to wrongdoing by ‘blowing the whistle’ originates from the Metropolitan Police Force who in February 1884 issued 21,000 whistles, the nineteenth century mobile phone! The effectiveness of blowing the whistle can be seen to this day on sports fields around the world. A whistle remains the most effective means of being heard above the crowd and drawing attention to an issue.
Read the All-Party Parliamentary Group report on whistleblowing: “The Personal Cost of Doing the Right Thing and the Cost to Society of Ignoring it”
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Autumn 2024 - Newsletter
Spring 2023 - Newsletter
Winter 2022/23 - Newsletter
Autumn 2022 - Newsletter
Summer 2022 - Newsletter
The EU Whistleblowing Directive: Is it meeting expectations?
The UK was the first European country to introduce whistleblower law; The Public Interest Disclosure Act in 1998.
Since then, only a handful of EU countries have followed suit and, like the UK with limited success.
The EU directive 2019, hailed a new era and was eagerly anticipated. The transposition deadline was 17th December 2021. Only 4 of 27 countries met the deadline, with 8 having transcribed so far. Of those who have introduced the new law, Denmark has exposed the frailty by not only dismissing the first case heard since the introduction of the law but through the exposure of problems arising from the absence of clear statutory guidance and mechanisms. The sting in the tail for the whistleblowers is that the court determined that her actions were ‘unnecessary’, and went on to uphold a criminal conviction relating to the release of ‘confidential information’.