Protection of speakers

Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as “the Law”) establishes a mechanism for the protection of persons who have provided information about an irregularity in an institution with which they are or have been bound by service, employment or contractual relations. The Law also establishes the rights and obligations of persons who report infringements in institutions, the grounds and forms of their legal protection, as well as measures to protect, encourage and assist such persons, with a view to providing adequate opportunities for reporting infringements of the law which threaten or violate the public interest, and to ensuring the prevention and detection of such infringements.

Under the Act, information on infringements is provided on:

  • endangering public safety or health, or a person’s life or health;
  • environmental risks;
  • obstructing or improperly influencing investigations by law enforcement authorities or the administration of justice by the courts;
  • financing illegal activities;
  • illegal or non-transparent use of public funds or assets;
  • ill-gotten wealth;
  • concealing the consequences of the infringement, obstructing the detection of the extent of the consequences;
  • other infringements.

Rapporteur

A person who is or has been in an employment or contractual relationship with the NVKC and who submits information about the infringement to the NVKC may submit information about the infringement to the Naujosios Vilnios Culture Centre (hereinafter referred to as “NVKC”).

Infringement

a criminal offence, an administrative offence, a misdemeanour, an official misconduct or a breach of professional duties, as well as a serious breach of the mandatory standards of professional ethics or any other offence threatening or affecting the public interest, which the whistleblower becomes aware of through his/her employment or contractual relationship with the NCCC.

Form and content of the notification

We recommend submitting your report to:
1. Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania No 1133 of 14 November 2018 “On the Implementation of the Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers of the Republic of Lithuania”
by submitting a free-form notification stating that it is submitted in accordance with the Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers of the Republic of Lithuania.

The person reporting the infringement shall state in the notification:
1. his/her name, surname, personal identification number, place of work or form of employment, other contact details;
2. the following information known to him/her: by whom, when, in what manner and by what type of infringement he/she has committed, is committing, or is about to commit, the date of becoming aware of the infringement and the circumstances of his/her awareness of it, whether the person has reported it, if so, to whom and if so, whether any response has been received, any other available documents, data or information that may disclose the elements of the possible infringement.

A person may submit information about the infringement to the NVQC:

  • by coming directly to the Naujosios Vilnios Culture Centre (Gerovės g. 1, Vilnius);
  • by post (Gerovės g. 1, Vilnius);
  • by sending information to the Naujosios Vilnios Culture Centre’s email address info@nvkc.lt;
  • publicly.

Confidentiality shall be ensured for the person who provided information on the infringement. Confidentiality shall be ensured irrespective of the outcome of the investigation of the information on the infringement. The requirement of confidentiality shall not apply where:

  • the person submitting or providing information about the infringement so requests in writing;
  • the person provides false information.

If the person who has submitted information about the infringement to the NCCC has not received a reply or the NCCC has not taken action in response to the information submitted or the measures taken have been ineffective, he/she has the right to apply directly to the competent authority – the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Lithuania – and submit to it a notification of infringement in the prescribed form in accordance with the provisions of Article 4(3)(4) of the Law.

A person shall not incur any contractual or tortious liability, including liability for defamation, as a result of providing information on an infringement, if, when providing information on an infringement in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Law, he or she reasonably believed that he or she was providing correct information.

A person shall only be liable for damages resulting from the provision of information about an infringement if it is proved that the person could not reasonably have assumed that the information he or she provided was correct.
A person who knowingly provides false information or discloses a state or professional secret shall be liable in accordance with the procedure laid down by law.

Legislation

Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers of the Republic of Lithuania
Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania No 1133 of 14 November 2018 “On the Implementation of the Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers of the Republic of Lithuania”