Support to the Law on the Protection of Reporters of Irregularities

Transparency International Croatia supports the draft of Law on the protection of the reporters of irregularities. It was emphasized during the Meeting of the Council for Social Justice of the President of Croatia Ivo Josipović.

„If we teach our children morality and we want them to apply such values, we have to be able to protect these values. We must not let honesty becoming meaningless and reaffirm its importance even in situations where  opportunities are very attractive. For all these reasons, an effective protection of whistleblowers is necessary. Indeed, whistleblowers sacrifice their lives for the common good.  By exposing corruption, crime and bad behaviour they save others lives and money of taxpayers. In return, they get fired, prosecuted, insulted, or even physical assaulted. Stories of whistleblowers are terrible. Losing their jobs can lead them to poverty, family breakdown, illness and even suicides. Because of this, many honest people are forced, when they witness crime and corruption, to pretend that they did not see anything. This situation has to change, and the most important thing for a successful protection of  whistleblowers is the establishment of effective laws and monitoring mechanisms.“ said by Davorka Budimir, the President of association Transparency International Croatia.

Recognizing the role of whistleblowers in the fight against corruption, many States and among them Croatia, are obliged according to international conventions that they have ratified to establish national laws on the protection of reporters of irregularities. These laws must ensure admissibility of the canal of reporting, a meaningful protection of reporters of retribution and permit  that the revealed information are used for starting necessary reforms.