Whistleblower protection is key to building an open and ethical society. Whistleblowers play an important role in exposing irregularities and corruption, which helps to maintain transparency in institutions. Providing a safe environment for whistleblowers promotes accountability and integrity, as people can report wrongdoing without fear of reprisals. Whistleblower protection is therefore key to creating a fairer society, where ethical behaviour is encouraged and opportunities for improvement are opened up in different sectors of society, which in turn benefits both individuals and society as a whole. The author starts with a theoretical introduction to the basic concepts related to whistleblowing, including the different definitions of the terms "whistleblowing" and "whistleblower". The author then discusses the past and current legal framework for the protection of whistleblowers in the Republic of Slovenia, and touches upon Directive (EU) 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of EU law. This part of the report is mainly concerned with the legal regime in force in this area before the adoption of the Whistleblower Protection Act and with an analysis of the current regime and the aforementioned Act. This is followed by a chapter analysing whistleblower protection from a practical point of view, presenting some of the more high-profile whistleblower cases in the country and the success of the related legal proceedings. The final part of the chapter presents an overall view of the adequacy of the current whistleblower protection regime and the scope for improvement in this area.
|
