Whistleblower protection bill put forward to parliament

The Croatian government sent to parliament on Thursday a bill designed to protect those exposing any kind of information or activity that is deemed illegal, unethical, or not correct within an organisation that is either private or public.

The whistleblower protection bill includes all legal standards for the protection of whistleblowers, given that until now Croatia did not have an integral act which would regulate this topic in a uniform fashion.

The bill includes general regulations, principles and rights of whistleblowers and their protection. It also regulates the procedure for reporting irregularities and the conduct following the report.

The new bill regulates that a whistleblower must receive a feedback within 60 days of his reporting the wrongdoing and must be given access to the case and case files.

Justice Minister Drazen Bosnjakovic said that this government-sponsored bill sends a message of encouragement to all those who detect irregularities to report them being aware that the state has mechanisms to deal with this.

Under the bill, whistleblowers will be entitled to court protection, compensation, identity protection and confidentiality. The protection measures are extended to the people who are connected with whistleblowers.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said that generally speaking the bill would most definitely contribute to the fight against corruption.

The government on Thursday congratulated the entire fire-fighting sector and local government on their response to recent wildfires on the Marjan hill overlooking Split and in Orebic, Kula Norinska, Posedarje and Konavle along the coast.

Defence Minister Damir Krsticevic, who recently visited the locations, said the wildfires were very serious but that the situation was now satisfactory. "Wildfires continue to break out but they are all under control."

Krsticevic said he was satisfied with the response of all services and commended the local community and all homeland security components such as fire-fighters, police, army, security and intelligence, mountain rescue, ministries and crisis management.

People are the greatest value of the homeland security system, which is a brand of this government thanks to solidarity and togetherness, he said. "We want people to defend their homes... they have the responsibility. Clearly, the state has the biggest responsibility for safety."

We can be satisfied but we need to keep on investing in security and all the processes, Krsticevic said.

Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic too said the response to the latest wildfires was prompt.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic thanked all the services on their response and on the good cooperation with local government. "I believe the alertness shown by all the components of the fire-fighting system, which has been significantly enhanced in relation to last year, will help so that there is as little damage as possible and that the lessons learned this year will make us even more effective the next."

Text: Hina

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