Missions and powers of the competent authorities

Receipt of external reports

Article 18(1) of the Law of 16 May 2023 states that “within the limits of their respective tasks and competences, the competent authorities shall receive alerts falling within the scope of this law.”

The competent authorities have set up reporting channels which persons wishing to ‘blow the whistle’ may use to report breaches in the area of competence of that authority, e.g. you may contact the Competition Authority for breaches of competition laws. The competent authorities examine each report carefully and will get back to you within 6 months.

They may decide to close the proceedings when a reported breach is deemed to be manifestly minor, without requiring further action. In this case, the reporting person will be informed of the decision and the reasons justifying it. Where a repeated report contains no significant new information compared to the initial already closed report, the procedure may also be closed. However, if new legal or factual elements are provided, the report may be followed up.

In the event of numerous reports, authorities will prioritise those concerning serious violations or essential provisions of the law, while respecting the prescribed time limits.

Control of internal reporting channels

Article 6(7) of the Law of 16 May 2023 states that “competent authorities shall verify the establishment of internal reporting channels with the legal entities in the private sector falling within their respective fields of competence.” As such, competent authorities may check if a private sector entity has set up internal reporting channels in accordance with the Law and sanction them for non-compliance, respectively refer the findings of their investigation to the Office for Whistleblowers who may sanction them.

Competent authorities have the right to demand private sector entities for any information they need in order to check whether the company’s internal reporting channels comply with the requirements of the whistleblowing law.

If a whistleblowing report is made about an organisation, or if there are concerns about whether its internal reporting channel has been properly set up, the competent authorities may request written information from that organisation. In doing so, they must always protect the confidentiality of the whistleblower’s identity.

In practice, this means that organisations are required to provide all information requested by a competent authority whenever such a request is made.

Competent authorities also have the power to, directly or indirectly, penalise any breaches they indentify by imposing administrative penalties.

Competent authorities cooperate and assist each other to the extent necessary for the performance of their respective duties under the Law.

If a competent authority receives a report outside of its remit, it transmits the report in a confidential and secure manner to the relevant competent authority within a reasonable period of time. The whistleblower will be informed of this transmission without delay.