Whistleblower Protection

Persons who have submitted information about violations are subject to protection, incentive and assistance measures under the Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers of the Republic of Lithuania, hereinafter referred to as the Law.

Protection applies when the information submitted meets the requirements of the Law and is related to the protection of the public interest.

Information about a violation means information submitted by a person about a violation that is possibly being prepared, is being committed or has been committed.

Information about a violation may include:

• a criminal offence;
• an administrative offence;
• official misconduct or a breach of work duties;
• a serious breach of professional ethics;
• another violation that causes or may cause damage to the public interest.

Information about violations may be submitted:

• to the Fisheries Service under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania, hereinafter referred to as the Service, through the internal channel for submitting information about violations;
• directly to the competent authority;
• publicly, in the cases established by the Law.

Detailed information on submitting a report to the Service is provided in the section “Report Corruption”.

The Service ensures the confidentiality of a person who has submitted information through the internal channel, in accordance with the Description of the Procedure for Submitting Information about Violations through the Internal Channel of the Fisheries Service under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania, and for Examining, Processing and Ensuring the Confidentiality of Such Information.

This means that:

• personal data are not disclosed to third parties, except for obligations or exceptions provided for in legal acts, for example, when information is submitted to a prosecutor, a pre-trial investigation officer or another pre-trial investigation body, a judge or a court;
• or when the person has given consent for the report and their personal data to be transferred to another competent authority;
• the information is used only for the examination of the violation;
• access to the information is granted only to the persons examining it.

Confidentiality is ensured regardless of the results of the examination of the information about the violation.

A person who has submitted information about a violation:

• is ensured confidentiality;
• is not held liable for submitting the information, provided that it was submitted on the reasonable belief that it was true;
• is protected from adverse treatment due to the submission of the information;
• may be subject to protection, assistance and incentive measures;
• may be subject to compensation or remuneration measures for valuable information in accordance with the procedure established by legal acts.

In order to effectively implement the provisions of the Law, Resolution No. 1133 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 14 November 2018 “On the Implementation of the Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers of the Republic of Lithuania” approved the following documents:

• Description of the Procedure for Remunerating Whistleblowers for Valuable Information;
• Description of the Procedure for Compensating Whistleblowers for Adverse Effects Suffered or Possible Consequences Due to the Submitted Report;
• Description of the Procedure for the Establishment and Functioning of Internal Channels for Submitting Information about Violations.

Important

Information about violations must be submitted in order to protect the public interest.

If information is submitted solely for personal interests, for example, in relation to an employment dispute, it is not considered a report under the Law.

A person submitting information about a violation is liable for damage resulting from the submission of such information only if it is proven that the person could not have reasonably believed that the information submitted was true.

The submission of knowingly false information or the disclosure of a state, official or professional secret does not grant the person protection and entails liability.