The Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the Law) establishes the rights and duties of persons who have reported violations in institutions, the bases and forms of their legal protection, as well as the measures for the protection, promotion and assistance of these persons, in order to create appropriate opportunities for reporting violations of the law that pose a threat public interest or those that violate it, to ensure the prevention and disclosure of such violations and the prosecution of those who have committed violations.
According to the Law, information about violations is provided in order to protect the public interest. Providing information for the purpose of defending exclusively personal interests is not considered a notification.
According to the Law, information on violations is provided due to:
1) danger to public safety or health, personal life or health;
2) environmental hazards;
3) obstructing or unlawfully influencing investigations conducted by law enforcement authorities or courts in the administration of justice;
4) financing of illegal activities;
5) illegal or non-transparent use of public funds or property;
6) illegally acquired property;
7) concealing the consequences of the committed violation, preventing the determination of the extent of the consequences;
8) violations specified in the list approved by the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania, prepared taking into account the scope of application of European Union legal acts specified in Directive (EU) 2019/1937;
9) damage to the financial interests of the European Union, as specified in Article 325 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and described in more detail in the related European Union measures;
10) violations related to the internal market, as specified in Article 26, Part 2 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, including violations of the competition and state aid rules of the European Union, as well as violations related to the internal market due to actions that violate corporate tax rules or agreements, which aim to obtain a tax advantage that harms the subject or purpose of the applicable corporate tax law;
11) other violations.
Non-application of rights and guarantees and liability for disclosure of information of a person providing information on violations, in accordance with Article 3, Paragraphs 3 – 7 of the Law:
- when a person providing information about a violation provides information related to a commercial (industrial) secret, professional secret, bank secret, confidential information of an institution or information about a person’s private life in accordance with the procedure established by law, this provision of information is not considered a commercial (industrial) secret, bank secret, confidential disclosure of information or information about a person’s private life, with the exception of the exception specified in Article 4, paragraph 10 of this law, as well as cases where the submission of information constituting a professional secret to a competent authority would be contrary to the laws regulating individual professional activities and the law of the European Union;
- the person who submitted information about the violation does not incur any contractual or tort liability for providing the information, as well as liability for insulting honor and dignity, for defamation, if, when providing information about the violation in accordance with the procedure established by this law, he reasonably believed that he was providing correct information;
- the person providing information about the violation is liable for the damage caused by providing the information only in the event that it is proven that the person could not reasonably believe that the information about the violation provided by him is correct;
- if the person submitting the information about the violation submitted the information anonymously, the protection, promotion and assistance measures set forth in Article 8 of this law are applied in cases where his identity has been revealed and it is necessary to protect him from negative effects;
- submission of known false information, as well as information about a violation constituting a state, service or professional secret, does not give the person who submitted information about the violation guarantees under this law. A person who has provided known false information or disclosed a state, service or professional secret shall be liable in accordance with the procedure established by legal acts.
A person can submit information about a violation in the following ways:
1) at the Kelmė district municipal administration (hereinafter – KRSA) through the internal channel for providing information about violations;
2) to the competent institution (the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Lithuania) (hereinafter – the Prosecutor’s Office) by e-mail by mail: I will inform you. protection @prokuraturos.lt ;
3) publicly.
In order to effectively implement the provisions of the Law, 2018 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania November 14 Resolution No. 1133 “On the Implementation of the Whistleblower Protection Law of the Republic of Lithuania” has approved the following descriptions:
1) Description of the procedure for remuneration of whistleblowers for valuable information.
2) Description of the procedure for compensating whistleblowers for the negative impact or potential consequences they experience as a result of the submitted report.
3) Description of the procedure for implementing internal channels for providing information on violations and ensuring their functioning.
The description of the procedure for the implementation of internal channels of information on violations and ensuring their functioning determines the requirements of internal channels of information on violations implemented in institutions, their functioning, provision of information on violations, investigation, handling and confidentiality assurance in the institution. Director of Kelmė District Municipality Administration in 2019. July 31 by order no. A-955 is the approved description of the procedure for providing information on violations in the administration of the Kelmė district municipality (hereinafter – the Description). This description determines the procedure for the provision of information about possible violations prepared, committed or committed by KRSA, receiving information about violations through KRSA’s internal channel for providing information about violations, its evaluation and decision-making.
KRSA’s ability to report a violation through an internal channel is provided to any person who is or has been associated with KRSA in a service, employment or contractual relationship (consulting, contracting, subcontracting, internship, practice, volunteering, etc.) or employment or other pre-contractual relationship.
A person reporting a violation to KRSA can submit it in one of the following ways:
- directly to the competent entity: you can provide information about the violation directly by coming to the fire safety service at Parko st. 9-2, Verpena km., LT-86105;
- e-mail address: sauga@kelmespriesgaisrine.lt ;
- leave information in the mailbox at Parko st. 9-2, Verpena km., LT-86105.
We recommend submitting a breach notification by filling out this breach notification form .
If the person providing information about a violation wants to submit a free-form report instead of filling out the prescribed form for a report about a violation, then such a report must contain the information specified in point 8 of the description of the procedure for providing information about violations in the Kelmė district municipality administration and indicate that this information is provided in accordance with the Law.
The whistleblower will be treated with confidentiality. Ensuring the confidentiality of the person who provided information about the violation during the investigation procedures of public administration and official misconduct or violation of work duties to the extent that it is objectively possible.
The legal defense measures of the person who provided information about the violation, which protect against negative impact measures, according to Article 11, Paragraphs 3 and 5 of the Law:
- when there is a negative impact on a person who has provided information about a violation through the institution’s internal channel for providing information about violations, he submits a report to the competent institution (the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Lithuania), which decides the issue of recognizing the person as a whistleblower;
- the person who submitted information about the violation, the whistleblower and the persons referred to in Article 10, Part 3 of the Law may apply to the court for the consequences of the negative impact measures. A person who has a service relationship with the institution, in accordance with the Law on Administrative Cases, has the right to challenge an administrative decision or other action or inaction made by him that has negative consequences.
Statistical data on the administration of the internal channel in KRSA: from 2019 on January 1, after the entry into force of the Law, until 2022. December 31 no reports of violations were received from individuals in accordance with the procedure established by legal acts.
We inform you that if you submit a report about a possible violation to the administration of the municipality of Kelmė district (hereinafter – the Administration), your personal data will be processed by the Administration for the purpose of administration and assessment of information about a possible violation.
