Whistleblower Act should lead to change in mentality – Bonnici

Anyone who wants to raise the alarm on an act of corruption or illegality can do so in the safe haven of the Whistleblower Act, which came into force today, parliamentary secretary for justice Owen Bonnici said today.

Addressing a press conference on the effective implementation of the law, Bonnici said the law should also lead to a change in mentality.

"We are extremely proud of this law and we want the citizens to know of their right to report abuses, knowing they will be protected by law. We want this law to work," the junior minister said.

Flanked by principal permanent secretary Mario Cutajar, Bonnici said a lot of administrative work went into the implementation of the law, followed by the appointment of a whistleblowing officer to receive reports within each ministry and the setting up of the External Whistleblowing Unit (EWU) within the Cabinet Office.

The EWU is headed by Marie-Lourdes Grech, director general of the Cabinet Office.

In explaining the procedure, Bonnici said that any worker or service provider can now report anything which appears to be wrong. The definition of worker is broad, including sub-contracted workers.

"Everyone who is in any way related to an entity or department can report, without the fear of facing disciplinary actions if this is done in good faith," Bonnici said.

A person pretending to be a whistleblower out of spite, and it turns out the illegality doesn't exist, could face criminal action.

There is no time-barring on reports, and cases could have occurred in the past.

While small companies are exempted from the law - the plan is to incorporate them in the future - the law also covers big businesses.

A whistleblower, who is guaranteed to remain anonymous, can submit a written complaint to the whistleblowing officer. In case of doubt to which officer to report to, the whistleblower can send his complaint to the EWU.

In the case of private companies, the complaint can be done to the relative public entity, such as MFSA or the Ombudsman.

Sending the complaint to the wrong officer will not invalidate the case.

Bonnici said the Act also encourages those who are in the wrong to come forward. "It is not a get-out-of-jail free card but he can be protected to according to recommendations by the Attorney General."