The new German Whistleblower Protection Act also applies to the police, which now have to set up internal reporting centres for violations observed by their staff. A civil rights organisation is keeping a close eye on them.
The news about misconduct at German police authorities is numerous, and there is also an esprit de corps that is difficult to penetrate. Therefore, incidents often come to light only by chance. A new information portal entitled “Make a report! Strong Voices for the Police” aims to change that. The project was launched by the Society for Freedom Rights (GFF) on Wednesday. Starting in autumn, police officers will be able to access all information about the legal situation and possibilities for whistleblowers. However, the civil rights activists of the GFF do not want to set up their own reporting centre, because this has to be done by the police themselves.
The background to the new portal is the “Law for Better Protection of Whistleblowers”, which came into force on 2 July and implements the requirements of an EU directive. It is intended to protect people who report information about violations of the law in their professional context. Subsequently, they must not be harassed or disadvantaged, for example through mobbing or dismissal.
The new Act obliges public authorities – just like companies – to set up internal reporting offices for any violations discovered by employees. This also applies to police officers. However, the law still has loopholes, especially for security agencies. For example, secret services are generally exempt. Police officers who have to deal with classified information in their work are also not allowed to report anything they have learned from these. Anonymous reports are also not possible. As of 17 December, fines can be imposed if companies have not set up internal reporting channels. However, these fines have been halved to €50,000, thus losing their deterrent effect, according to the GFF.
If necessary, the GFF, which is registered as a non-profit association, also wants to provide individual support to civil servants who get into trouble after a tip-off. In addition to counselling, this can lead to strategic lawsuits before the courts. In the field of whistleblowing, the GFF has already achieved a success: With peace activist Hermann Theisen, its lawyers were able to achieve an acquittal after the man had been charged with “incitement to crime” for whistleblowing leaflets he had distributed to employees of arms companies.
The GFF now wants to ensure the rapid implementation of the Whistleblower Protection Act in police authorities by offering training and further education and to bring the experience gained from “Make a report!” to the attention of “decision-makers at the federal and state levels”. In other legislative processes, their staff is often invited as experts, and the jurists also want to contribute to the evaluation of the Whistleblower Protection Act, which is due to take place in the Bundestag after two years. A study on whistleblowing in the police is also planned.
Finally, the GFF also wants to set up a “whistleblowing support group” in the police and enter into an exchange with police universities and police associations. Paul Rabe, a former federal police officer and fellow in the “Make a report!” project, said at the request of “nd” that the association was also open to talks with police unions if they were interested in more rule of law and transparency in the police. However, the association will probably cut its teeth on this, because police unions usually do not do one thing: being self-critical.
Published in German in „nd“.
Image: Montecruz Foto.
