Measure
1.6.3.2.1. Developing training materials for courses for judges, prosecutors, police officers, employees of the State Bureau of Investigations, attorneys providing secondary legal assistance free of charge, and employees of centers providing free secondary legal assistance, in matters of legal protection of whistleblowers
Measure status:
Actual execution date:
31.12.2023
The measure is aimed at achieving ESR:
1.6.3.2. Courts and free secondary legal assistance centers are a reliable mechanism for protecting whistleblower rights due to the increased level of qualifications and competencies of judges, free secondary legal assistance center staff and free secondary legal assistance lawyers in whistleblower cases
Problem solving:
1.6.3. Whistleblower protection is not properly implemented due to insufficient institutional capacity of the authorized bodies and shortcomings in legislative regulation
Deadlines:
Responsible implementors (authorities):
Ministry of Justice of Ukraine
Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine
Coordination Centre for Legal Aid Provision
National School of Judges of Ukraine
Sources of funding:
state budget and/or international technical assistance funds
Volumes of financing (thousand UAH):
within the established budget allocations for the relevant year
Performance indicator:
The training materials have been developed.
Implementing status
Progress/Result of implementation:
The National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption has developed a Practical Guide for Working with Whistleblowers, which establishes a clear algorithm for the authorised unit (authorised persons) to work with whistleblowers to ensure that their rights and protection guarantees provided by law are respected, and to provide recommendations on existing restrictions on the professional ethics of authorised persons in relation to whistleblowers.
The manual is built on the principle of general to specific, i.e. from explaining the general aspects of organising the work of authorised units (authorised persons) in dealing with whistleblowers to covering specific issues related to dealing with whistleblowers and reports from them.
Based on this manual, relevant outreach materials were developed for courses for judges, prosecutors, police officers, employees of the State Bureau of Investigation, lawyers providing free secondary legal aid, and employees of free secondary legal aid centres on legal protection of whistleblowers.
Also, from September to December 2023, the Coordination Centre for Legal Aid Provision reached an agreement with the partners of the USAID project "Support to Anti-Corruption Champion Organisations in Ukraine" (SACCO) to update the previously developed and prepare new materials for the training programme for lawyers involved in providing free secondary legal aid to corruption whistleblowers, including supplementing it with a block of topical issues for lawyers of free secondary legal aid centres.