International Anti-Corruption Commitments

Title of the document

G20 High-Level Principles for the Effective Protection of Whistleblowers

(https://www.bmjv.de/SharedDocs...)

Issuing body

G20

Brief description

Protecting whistleblowers was a priority issue for Japan’s 2019 G20 Presidency, which aimed to respond to the 2019-2021 Action Plan of the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group’s (ACWG) call to “assess and identify best practices, implementation gaps and possible further protection measures as appropriate.” The High-Level Principles focus on five core pillars:

1) legal framework,

2) scope of protected disclosures,

3) procedure for protected disclosures,

4) remedies and effective protection against retaliation, and

5) effective enforcement and self-evaluation of the legal framework.

Relevant excerpts

Principle 1: Establish and implement clear laws and policies for the protection of whistleblowers

Principle 2: The scope of protected disclosures should be broadly but clearly defined.

Principle 3: Protection should be available to the broadest possible range of reporting persons

Principle 4: Provide for visible reporting channels and adequate support to whistleblowers

Principle 5: Ensure confidentiality for whistleblowers

Principle 6: Define retaliation against whistleblowers in a comprehensive way

Principle 7: Ensuring robust and comprehensive protection for whistleblowers

Principle 8: Provide for effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for those who retaliate

Principle 9: Ensure that whistleblowers cannot be held liable in connection with protected disclosures