Whistleblowing

Whistleblowing – a possibility for everyone to contribute to a legitimate, fair, open and transparent functioning of an institution.

Whistleblowing – reporting of a possible criminal offence, administrative offence or a violation of other legal provisions of the European Union, the European Central Bank or Latvia, or a violation of binding ethical or professional provisions that may harm the public interest.

The following shall not be considered whistleblowing:

• provision of intentionally false information;
• disclosure of information containing an official secret;
• reporting only on an infringement of personal interests;
• violation of the confidentiality of communication between an advocate and a client, a physician and a patient;
• disclosure of confidential deliberations of judges and of the non-disclosable information which has been acquired during closed court hearings;
• disclosure of information on the performance of special investigative actions and also disclosure of the information acquired as a result thereof;
• disclosure of information on consulting with representatives of employees or trade unions, and also parties to the collective agreement insofar as the information necessary for entering into or amending of the collective agreement is affected.

A natural person who provides information on a possible violation which may harm the public interest if the person considers this information to be true and it has been obtained while fulfilling the work duties or establishing legal relations related to the fulfilment of work duties or while being in traineeship, and who might be subjected to adverse effects due to the provision of such information.

A whistleblower is not a legal person or person who reports the breach anonymously or using a pseudonym.

A natural person may submit a whistleblower's report to Latvijas Banka in matters within its competence in accordance with the following procedures:

• by addressing Latvijas Banka's contact persons in matters of whistleblowing:
  • by filling in the form of the whistleblower's report (link Ziņojuma iesniegšana | Trauksmescelejs.lv) or by sending it to the e-mail address trauksme@bank.lv;
  • by filling in the form of the whistleblower's report (link Ziņojuma iesniegšana | Trauksmescelejs.lv) or by handing in a submission to the contact persons of Latvijas Banka in paper form, electronically or by making it orally in person (by addressing the contact persons of Latvijas Banka) and indicating that it is a whistleblower's report;
  • electronically without a secure electronic signature on the public administration services portal www.latvija.lvor on the website www.trauksmescelejs.lv if the report is submitted and the identity of the person is verified using the online forms available on the above portal and website;
• by applying to another competent authority, handing in a submission to the contact persons of the competent authority in matters of whistleblowing.

The competent authority is any institution of a public person which in conformity with the competence laid down in laws and regulation is fully or partly responsible for handling the issue on which the whistleblower is reporting, or body which implements supervision or control of the issue on which the whistleblower is reporting, investigating institution or Office of the Prosecutor – in conformity with the competence thereof if the possible violation is a criminal offence or breach of law;

The list of contact persons of the competent authorities in matters of whistleblowing is available at: Kur celt trauksmi  | Trauksmescelejs.lv;

• by applying to the Whistleblowers Contact Point at the State Chancellery (link Kontakti | Trauksmescelejs.lv) or via an association or foundation, including trade unions or their associations;
• by blowing the whistle via providing information on a possible violation publicly (the cases set out in Section 4, Paragraph two of the Whistleblowing Law).

After a submission of a person has been recognised as a whistleblower's report, the personal data of its submitter are pseudonymised.

Personal data of a whistleblower, the report and written or physical evidence appended thereto, and also materials from the examination of the whistleblower's report have the status of restricted access information.

Every person (authority) who has received the whistleblower's report or performs any activities with it has the obligation to ensure due protection of the personal data of the whistleblower. The personal data of a whistleblower may be transferred only to persons (authorities) who need them for the examination of a whistleblower's report or a case of violation initiated on the basis thereof, or for the protection of the whistleblower or his or her relatives. More information about the whistleblower's protection is available in the section "Protection" on the website trauksmescelejs.lv.

The contact persons of the institution may be contacted to obtain advice regarding the possibility to blow the whistle and information on the progress of reviewing the report submitted.