4 SUMMARIES OF NATIONAL RESEARCH
WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION IN ESTONIA KEY FINDINGS
Legislation Estonian legal regulations on whistleblowers focus mostly on the public sector. There is no free-standing law on whistleblowing and the main law referring to it is the Anti-Corruption Act, which is limited to public sector employees. There are other minor regulations in the Public Service Act, the Equal Treatment Act and the Penal Code, which provide some protection. Political and cultural context Surveys and interviews with key stakeholders illustrate a generally negative perception of whistleblowing in Estonia. The majority of respondents (74 per cent) in surveys carried out by the Ministry of Justice indicated that they would react passively when witnessing bribery, and a survey of public opinion in 2007 reported that only one per cent of the general population, five per cent of public sector employees and one per cent of entrepreneurs who have had contact with corruption actually reported the case to law enforcement institutions. Civil servants interviewed in the current study pointed out that the prevailing attitude among them towards whistleblowing is negative, as there is strong scepticism over whether anything would change as a result of whistleblowing. The media tackles whistleblower cases carefully, trying to stay neutral. However, people are becoming more eager to report to the authorities cases which imply a threat to human life, e.g. through drunk drivers or doctors.
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The Anti-Corruption Act is currently under review by the Estonian parliament. The new draft includes substantial changes regarding whistleblower protection. Under current provisions, officials are obliged to report corrupt activity. This provision will be changed into the obligation not to withhold information on corrupt acts. The related penalty for misdemeanours will also be removed, owing to the lack of practical application of existing regulations, which failed to foster whistleblowing in the public sector. Failure to report corrupt activity will now result in loss of confidentiality and disciplinary measures. Whistleblowers are also protected under the Equal Treatment Act, even though there is no explicit mention of whistleblowing. For example, if a person is subject to unequal treatment by an official after having made a disclosure about corruption, the official is obliged to prove that the treatment was not motivated by the disclosure. Furthermore, the Employment Contract Act and Public Service Act give employees the right to demand compensation from their employer if they have been punished or illegally released from office.
An ethics council for public service is currently in formation; one of its tasks will be to provide an independent opinion on civil servants’ behaviour. Officials with the right to impose disciplinary measures may seek advice on cases before initiating disciplinary proceedings. Officials who do not have the right to impose a disciplinary penalty may refer to the council in matters concerning themselves, if disciplinary proceedings have not been initiated and internal options for resolving the matter have been exhausted. For the private sector, there are almost no regulations bar two paragraphs in the Penal Code which specify that nondisclosure and failure to report firstdegree criminal offences (including some cases of bribery) are punishable. Current policies and practices Whistleblowing is relatively unknown in society and it is therefore difficult to gather information about related practice. There are neither known cases of whistleblower harassment, nor is there any information on public officials being prosecuted for knowing of corrupt or other illegal activities and not reporting them. Information on existing public and private sector whistleblower cases is also protected by confidentiality clauses, and therefore difficult to analyse. However, some cases have been reported by the media, based on disclosures of infringements made to journalists. Recently, a court ruled in favour of a city council opposition leader who experienced unjust disciplinary proceedings after having disclosed information related to the use of public money. Analysis of case law on corruption has also provided some Transparency International