Legal position and protection of whistleblowers in Croatian law

Abstract

In the context of labour relations, legal protection of the so-called "whistleblowers", persons who disclose or expose information on activity deemed illegal, unethical, or incorrect within an organization, is a highly delicate topic which does not cease to attract attention of contemporary labour law. When an employee is ready to report corruptive offences, it is necessary to activate the mechanism of legal protection aimed at protecting the whistleblower from unlawful dismissal and, concurrently, to initiate the procedure for determining the corruptive offence and ensuring clear safeguards to prevent possible abuses by either the employee or the employer. The paper looks into the regulation concerning the protection of rights of whistleblowers in comparative labour law context and the case law of European Court of Human Rights. The authors also analyse the latest efforts by the European Union in the area of legal protection of whistleblowers, as well as the most important European legal instruments. By enacting legal provisions on the protection to whistleblowers, countries actually contribute to the protection of public interest, the advancement of good governance, the strengthening of the rule of law, and the reinforcement of the fundamental democratic right to freedom of expression. In Croatia, almost all publicly known whistleblowers were immediately dismissed and, up to date, only one of them was returned to work on the basis of a court decision. Recently adopted legislative act on the protection of whistleblowers might contribute to changes and might provide long-sought legal protection to all those who report on corruptive practices in their workplaces.