Legal framework for the protection of whistleblowers
The Protection of Persons who Report Breaches of Union and National Law of 2022 [Law 6(I)/2022] was published on 4 February, 2022 (you can find an English translation of the Law by the Office of the Law Commissioner here). The Law provides, among other things, for the provision of protection of persons who report acts or omissions relating to the commission or potential commission of specific violations of European Union law, as well as acts or omissions related to the commission or possible commission of a criminal offence, acts or omissions related to non-compliance with any legal obligation imposed on a person, and breaches which cause or may cause damage to the environment.
Persons entitled to protection are persons who report violations of European Union law, persons who report violations of national law, third persons who are connected with the reporting person and who may endure retaliation in a work-related context and legal entities that the reporting person owns, works for or is otherwise connected within a work-related context. The conditions for the protection of persons making a report are also defined in the Law. Legal entities in the public and private sector are also required to establish channels and procedures for internal reporting of violations.
Protection is also provided under certain conditions to a person who makes a public disclosure of violations, and a duty of confidentiality is imposed regarding the identity of the reporting person, including any other information from which the identity of the reporting person may be directly or indirectly deduced.
Measures are also established to protect the reporting person from any retaliation against him/her, as well as measures to support the reporting person. Finally, relevant criminal offenses are established for a natural person who:
(a) hinders or attempts to hinder reporting; or
(b) retaliates against a reporting person; or
(c) brings vexatious proceedings against a reporting person; or
(d) breaches the duty of maintaining the confidentiality of the identity of the reporting person.
Criminal offenses are also established for a person who knowingly reports or publicly discloses false information.
For details on the implementation of Law 6(I)/2022 you can refer to the
relevant page of the Ministry of Justice and Public Order (page in Greek).
You can see the flow of the investigation of complaints concerning incidents affecting the financial interests of the Union by clicking here (page in Greek).
Competent Authorities for receiving and investigating complaints
The Competent Authorities for receiving and investigating complaints in the Republic of Cyprus, to which interested parties can refer to, are listed below. Using the links provided below, interested parties can be redirected to the relevant pages of the competent bodies, where they can submit complaints directly: