4 SUMMARIES OF NATIONAL RESEARCH
WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION IN ROMANIA KEY FINDINGS
Legislation
Political and cultural context In post-Communist Romania, there is a certain resistance to whistleblowers rooted in confusion between whistleblowers and informants. The transition to democratic rule, characterised by widespread corruption, and the existence of a public sector composed of anonymous and silent civil servants, mean whistleblowing involves high personal cost, through both formal and informal sanctions. In the private sector, confidentiality agreements are becoming increasingly popular, which threatens to limit the potential advances of eventual legislative reform. Only a few companies have whistleblower policies or internal regulations regarding disclosure, and even fewer have functioning procedures. For many employers, whistleblowing is a new notion not even included within general business principles. The media only rarely reports whistleblower cases, and yet must play a key role in the whole process of whistleblowing.
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In 2004, a specific law on whistleblower protection was passed in Romania. The Whistleblower Protection Act covers the protection of personnel who file a complaint about an infringement within public authorities, public institutions or public companies. This protection is extended to both permanent and temporary staff, regardless of how they were hired or appointed, whether they are paid or not and what kind of duty they fulfil. The Whistleblower Protection Act regulates the protection of people who provide information and data concerning an infringement of the law or of professional or ethical standards, including corruptionrelated crimes. The scope of the act is limited to the public sector. In case of conflict with other legal provisions, the Whistleblower Protection Act has priority. The Act was the outcome of TI Romania’s advocacy. Its aim was to break with a tradition of silence and complicity in the public sector and to match internal channels of complaint with more responsive exterior ones. In 2008, a TI Romania study reported that the majority of assessed regional public institutions had not harmonised their internal regulations with the Whistleblower Protection Act during the three years since the promulgation of the law. Thus, even if legal provisions are comprehensive and offer proper protection mechanisms, implementation at local level is problematic.
In the private sector, there are no specific regulations for whistleblower protection. Several legislative measures can be used as a starting point for measures similar to the public ones, but the approach is dependent on company policies. The Witness Protection Law contains nods to whistleblowing and protects people who report criminal offences, including corruption and fraud. The Labour Code contains provisions regarding abusive dismissal. Current policies and practices Article six of the Whistleblower Protection Act provides a range of internal, external or additional disclosure channels which can be used alternatively or cumulatively. However, Romanian legislation does not distinguish between internal and external disclosure. Internally, a whistleblower can address the supervisor of the person who has violated legal provisions; the director of the public authority or institution in which the accused works, or in which the illegal practice is reported (even if it is not possible to identify the actual culprit); or the disciplinary commissions or other similar organisations within the framework of the public institution in which the infringement was committed. In addition or as an alternative to internal channels, a whistleblower may use external disclosure channels, including judicial bodies (either criminal or civil); bodies charged with ascertaining and investigating conflicts of interest or incompatibilities, and professional organisations, unions or industry organisations. A whistleblower may also address additional disclosure channels such as parliamentary commissions, the mass media and nonTransparency International