Legal status of whistleblowers in relation to the refugee status Abstract The aim of this thesis is to introduce the whistleblowing issue in context of international law, refugee law specifically. In recent years, there have been several globally significant cases of whistleblowers responsible for leaks of information of i.a. public entities and seeking protection against their own state of nationality in other countries. Despite the worldwide attention that these cases got, the problematics of whistleblowing is not sufficiently covered from the perspective of international law. Especially in Czech law literature, this topic is neglected in such context. The object of the thesis is therefore to provide an overview of the issue and to identify and analyze its controversial aspects. The work is structured from general introduction into the topic, thereafter defining crucial terms and institutes and categorizing them, towards detailed analysis of the status of whistleblowers and each of refugee definition parts in particular. The core of the work itself is constituted of application of these definition characteristics to miscellaneous whistleblower cases, with the purpose of answering the research question whether (and under what condition) could whistleblowers fulfill the refugee definition. In the thesis is...

Lately, whistleblower scandals have received more and more attention in the media. Whistleblowers who blow the whistle about internal misconduct and breaches in the workplace are often subject to retaliation that affects their finances, health, and reputation. Protection of whistleblowers against retaliation acts as a safeguard for freedom of expression and freedom and pluralism of the media. Retaliations can exist of early termination or cancellation of an employment or service contract, harassment, loss of income, coercion, business boycotting, or blacklisting. The protection of whistleblowers within the European Union (EU) has been fragmentary for a long time. Some member states have had a high level of protection and detailed legislation, but some member states have had a total absence of such legislation. Therefore, the EU decided to establish a directive, Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law (the whistleblower directive or the directive) with common minimum standards for the protection of persons reporting of breaches of Union law. The purpose of the directive is to protect whistleblowers, facilitate the process when reporting and enhance the freedom of speech. Although, the directive has received criticism that the legislation regarding the internal channels that shall be used for reporting is mitigating the purpose of the directive. The directive contains an obligation in the articles 8.1-3 for legal entities in the private sector with at least 50 workers to establish channels and procedures for internal reporting. Article 8.6 stipulates that legal entities starting with 50 up to 249 workers are allowed to share certain resources regarding the internal reporting channels. The wording of the article gives no guidance on how the rules apply to a corporate group. Also, the directive does not contain any definition regarding the word legal entities and what it comprehends. The obscurity of the directive regarding sharing internal reporting channels for corporate groups has led to a debate within the union. Representatives from big corporate groups illustrate the possible inconveniences with the legislation if it does not allow corporate groups to share internal reporting channels. This has resulted in various implementations in the member states, where e.g., Sweden’s national implementation of the directive gives no opportunity for corporate groups to share internal reporting channels, compared to Denmark where corporate groups are allowed to share internal reporting channels. This thesis concludes that the directive shall be interpreted in a way that prohibits corporate groups to share internal reporting channels. The outcome of the interpretation that corporategroups cannot share internal reporting channels results in inter alia increased economic and administrative burden for legal entities, as well as a difficulty to be consistent with the whistleblowing procedure within the group. The fact that the whistleblower needs to report to the legal entity where the person is employed and not to a parent company also makes it easier for the whistleblowing department that receives and processes the reports to conjecture the identity of the whistleblower. Sweden’s interpretation of the directive regarding the internal reporting channels is therefore in line with the whistleblower directive, compared to Denmark where the legislator has opened to allow corporate groups to share internal reporting channels, even though the interpretation is not in accordance with the whistleblower directive.

The submitted diploma thesis deals with the topic of disclosure of wrongdoings, which has lately gained attention due to the recent considerations of the possible complex legislative proposal in the Czech Republic. Therefore the purpose of this thesis is to analyze the current legal situation of disclosure of wrongdoings in the Czech Republic, along with analyzing all the aspects that should be taken into account when considering a legislative proposal, as well as analyzing and evaluating the legislative proposals that have already been submitted. The first part of the thesis presents the subject of whistleblowing and the different approaches to the subject, which are presented by the authors of the frequently used definitions. Then the author deals with the very essence of the issue and answers the question why it is necessary to legally regulate the area of whistleblowing. This thesis also presents various problematic questions including ethical matters inextricably linked with whistleblowing. Subsequently, the thesis provides an overview of international commitments of the Czech Republic consisting of the most important documents, both hard law and soft law, related to the reporting of wrongdoings together with other relevant activities of the international instutions such as decisions of the...

This Master's thesis deals with the topic of the protection of whistleblowers, or persons reporting wrongdoing, as the term is often translated into Czech. The first part of the thesis deals with the approach to the issue, the history of whistleblowing, definitions of basic terms and concepts necessary for its further understanding, and general remarks, why it is necessary to protect the reporting persons. Furthermore, the thesis describes obligations arising in the field of protection of reporting persons under the international law and in particular, from the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, and further analyses the rules of the new EU Directive on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law. The Directive was approved at the end of 2019. It represents a comprehensive set of principles and rules, whose purpose is to ensure a high level of protection for whistleblowers across all Member States, including the Czech Republic, through the introduction of common minimum standards. Like other EU Member States, the Czech Republic is obliged to transpose the Directive into the national law by 17 December 2021 at the latest. The final part of the thesis analyses the Czech legislation on the whistleblowing. This concerns both the current legislation, the sufficiency of which has been...

Title IX was enacted over 40 years ago, and although there have been marked increases in the number of girls and women participating in athletics at every level, gender equity in athletics continues to be a concern. This is especially evident at the community college level. Title IX requires equity in the areas of opportunities for participation, opportunities for financial aid, and equity in benefits and services. This study sought to ascertain perceptions of equity held by community college coaches of women’s teams. A cross-sectional design was used to survey coaches from all regions of the NJCAA who were listed in the National Directory of in regard to their perceptions of equity in opportunities for participation, opportunities for scholarships, awareness and understanding of Title IX and related compliance issues, including whistleblower protection, and their level of comfort in discussing gender equity issues with supervisors. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed significant differences in perceptions regarding gender equity in terms of opportunities for participation, opportunities for financial aid by means of athletic scholarships, benefits and services, awareness and understanding and level of comfort in discussing perceptions regarding gender equity issues or Title IX non-compliance based on gender, years’ experience coaching, sport coached and region, although effect sizes for each analysis were determined to be small. Without question, women are in a better position to recognize gender inequities in athletics on college campuses. It is essential that women are recruited and hired into leadership positions in athletic departments and into executive positions in educational administrations at community colleges. Without a voice at the decision-making levels, the pace at which community colleges move toward equity will continue to lag.

I syfte att undanröja oegentligheter förekommer det att arbetstagare inom bolag avslöjar uppkomna missförhållanden; så kallad whistleblowing. För svensk rätts vidkommande lagstiftades detta rättsinstitut först år 2017, i syfte att förhindra företeelser såsom marknadsmissbruk, korruption och miljöförstöring. Den nyligen antagna lagstiftningen tycks enligt kritikerna dock innehålla oklara moment. Det är sålunda av vikt att undersöka huruvida lagstiftningen kommer verka effektivt för whistleblower[s]. Skulle lagstiftningen vara att anse otillräcklig och icke förutsebar, föreligger nämligen risk för informationsasymmetrier. För att utreda problematiken är en komparativrättslig studie med stöd av amerikansk rätt avseende whistleblowing relevant. Aktuellt för detta arbete är Sarbanes-Oxley Act och Dodd-Frank Act, vilka antogs år 2002 i genmäle till större redovisningsskandaler inom Enron och Worldcom, respektive marknadskollapsen år 2008 och efterföljande bankkonkurser. Det huvudsakliga syftet var att etablera procedurer för behandling av larm avseende missförhållanden, förbud mot repressalier, samt skadestånds- och straffrättsligt ansvar respektive främjande av finansiell stabilitet. Beträffande svensk rätt har whistleblower[s] erhållit skydd medelst yttrandefrihet, meddelarskydd, arbetsrättsligt skydd, lojalitetsplikt, samt av bolag företagen självreglering. Denna gällande rätt har dock ansetts ofullständig och omständlig. Den för svensk rätts vidkommande antagna lagstiftningen avseende whistleblowing innehåller krav på allvarliga missförhållanden och fog för påstående, samt möjliggörs intern- och externrapporterting. Argumentationen i propositionen framstår emellertid såsom inkonsekvent. Det bör sålunda vara rimligt anta, att de svagheter i svensk rätt som kan återfinnas i regleringen avseende whistleblowing resulterar i ett, för svensk rätts vidkommande, skydd för arbetstagare som är fragmenterat och svårtillämpat. Visserligen har även amerikansk rätt avseende whistleblowing fått utstå kritik. Oavsett reflektioner beträffande kritiken amerikansk rätt mottagit, får amerikansk reglering anses erbjuda tydligare skydd, varför det bör vara möjligt överföra vissa delar av amerikansk rätt till svensk reglering avseende whistleblowing, för att stärka regleringen och möjliggöra att dess ändamål uppfylls. / In order to eliminate irregularities in companies, workers can reveal anomalies; through so-called whistleblowing. In Swedish law, this legal phenomenon was adopted into legislation in 2017. However, according to critics, the legislation contains unclear clauses. Thus, it is important to examine whether the legislation will work effectively. Should the newly adopted legislation be considered inadequate and unpredictable, there is a risk for information asymmetries. Therefore, a comparative legal study with support of American law regarding whistleblowing, is motivated. In this thesis, I will examine the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) as well as the Dodd-Frank Act of 2008, which were adopted in response to the major accounting scandals of Enron and WorldCom, respectively the market collapse in 2008 and subsequent bank failures. In both SOX and the Dodd Frank Act, procedures for the management of whistleblower alarms, prohibitions on reprisals as well as rules on tort and criminal liability were introduced with an aim to promote financial stability. As to Swedish law, whistleblowers have received protection from reprisals by laws regulating freedom of speech, protection of sources, labor law protection, the concept of duty of loyalty, and by companies establishing self-regulation. However, statutory protection of whistleblowers in other laws has been considered incomplete, which is why the legislature has deemed whistleblowing worthy of protection by a separate law only governing whistleblowing. However, the newly adopted Swedish law regarding whistleblowing appears to contain some weaknesses due to inconsistencies and unclear clauses. It is true that American laws regarding whistleblowing have endured criticism. However, it is reasonable to assume that the weaknesses in Swedish law regarding whistleblowing result in a protection for workers, which is fragmented and difficult to apply. Given the fact that American regulation regarding whistleblowing is providing more consistent protection to whistleblowers, Swedish regulators should consider the adoption of certain rules from American law, to strengthen the regulation and allow its purpose to be fulfilled.

自2008年雷曼兄弟事件引發全球金融海嘯後，各國金融監管機關為防止銀行再度因內部控制不當導致整體金融體系系統性崩潰，紛紛透過立法修正並加強監理，要求銀行強化法令遵循制度。我國金融監督管理委員會亦於今(2014)年針對「金融控股公司及銀行業內部控制及稽核制度實施辦法」加以修正，希望藉以提高金融機構對法令遵循主管職務之重視，強化法令遵循主管之專業訓練及其角色功能。 觀諸美國、新加坡、香港等地的法令遵循制度規範，均要求董事會應為法令遵循制度負監督義務，並責令銀行應設置法令遵循專責單位，以確保法令遵循單位之獨立性，法令遵循單位應透過法令遵循風險評估與監控計畫，將內部所偵測出的法令遵循缺失及時向董事會呈報，確保銀行內部自律機制之有效性。 為建立能及時揭弊除錯的通報制度，有學者建議應設計誘因以提高法令遵循之成效。惟我國目前尚未針對「吹哨者」建立保障機制，企業內部人往往囿於避免遭到企業報復、影響生計、甚至名譽受損害、面臨民刑事責任追究，而懼怕舉報。建議我國可參酌現行美國、英國、日本之吹哨者保障機制，加以立法保護，鼓勵內部人通報，以健全我國銀行業之法令遵循制度。 / In order to prevent another systematic global financial tsunami such like the enterprise internal control failures happened in 2008 triggered by Lehman Brothers, most of the financial regulatory authorities in the world have been strengthened supervision through legislation requiring banks to enhance regulatory compliance function. Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission also has amended the "Implementation Rules of Internal Audit and Internal Control System of Financial Holding Companies and Banking Industries" recently to highlight the importance of the compliance function and require banks to strengthen the professionalism and independency of the compliance officers. After studying the regulatory requirements of the United States, Singapore and Hong Kong, this Article concludes that the Board of Directors of a bank shall be obligated for the oversight liability of the compliance governance system. Banks shall set up an independent responsible functional unit to identify, assess and monitor the compliance risk, and escalate the detected compliance breach or issue to the Board of Directors in a timely manner to ensure the effectiveness of the internal self-regulatory mechanism of the bank. To establish a timely internal alert system to detect and correct the compliance breach or issue, some scholars have suggested to provide incentives. Taiwan has yet legislated a single law for "whistleblower" protection mechanism. Most of the employees are not willing to report the findings because they tend to avoid being confined to retaliation, job losing, reputation damage or even criminal liability. This Article compares the relevant whistleblower protection legislation in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan, and provide suggestion for legislation to protect and encourage insiders to escalate for any compliance breach or issue they found in order to improve the internal reporting system and therefore to enhance the banking compliance system.

Already on 16 December 2019, the EU ‘Whistleblowing Directive’ (Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of 23 October 20191) came into force. It has not yet been implemented in Germany. Nevertheless, what will change for companies and is there a concrete need for action? / Bereits am 16. Dezember 2019 trat die EU-Whistleblowing-Richtlinie in Kraft. In Deutschland wurde sie noch nicht eingeführt. Dennoch, was wird sich für Firmen ändern und besteht ein konkreter Handlungsbedarf?

Bakgrund: I sitt arbete möter sjuksköterskan utmanade situationer där observationer om brister i patientsäkerheten förekommer. Enligt patientsäkerhetslagen är sjuksköterskor skyldiga att rapportera dessa brister och det kan innebära ett etiskt dilemma. Att rapportera kan ge sjuksköterskan negativa konsekvenser och att avstå att rapportera kan ge konsekvenser för patientsäkerheten och bidra till ökat lidande för patienter. Syftet med litteraturstudien var att undersöka sjuksköterskors eller sjuksköterskestudenters erfarenheter av möjliga konsekvenser efter visselblåsning inom hälso- och sjukvården. Metod: Studien genomfördes som en litteraturstudie där data sammanställdes genom en innehållsanalys. Resultatet: Analysen resulterade i två kategorier, negativa konsekvenser av visselblåsning och positiva konsekvenser av visselblåsning. Resultatet visade att visselblåsning sker i samband med allvarliga brister i patientsäkerheten. Detta blir till ett etiskt dilemma för sjuksköterskan som ställs inför att antingen vara lojal mot patienten eller arbetsgivaren/kollegier för att undgå negativa konsekvenser. Fåtal visselblåsare fick positiva konsekvenser i form av ett personligt tack. Konklusion: Att genomföra etikutbildning och diskutera begreppet visselblåsning i organisationen som en etisk fråga kan bidra till ett öppet klimat och stärka sjuksköterskorna i deras profession inför en visselblåsning. / Background: In nurse´s work they encounter challenging situations where observations of deficiencies in patient safety occur. According to the Patient Safety Act, nurses are obliged to report these shortcomings, and this can pose an ethical dilemma. Reporting can have negative consequences for the nurse and refraining from reporting can have consequences for patient safety and contribute to increased suffering for patients. The aim of the literature study was to examine nurses or nursing students experiences of possible consequences after whistleblowing in health care. Method: The study was conducted as a literature study where data were compiled through a content analysis. Results: The analysis resulted in two categories, negative consequences of whistling and positive consequences of whistling. The results showed that whistling occurs in connection with serious deficiencies in patient safety. This becomes an ethical dilemma for the nurse who is faced with either being loyal to the patient or the employer/colleagues to avoid negative consequences. Few whistleblowers had positive consequences in the form of a personal thank you. Conclusion: Conducting ethics education and discussing the concept of whistleblowing in the organization as an ethical issue can contribute to an open climate and strengthen the nurses in their profession before a whistleblowing.

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