The whistleblower protection law is still not sufficiently known to all officials and other citizens employed in public and private institutions. This is considered a challenge for its implementation, adding here its non-implementation in the private sector.

Through whistleblowing, employees in the public and private sectors have the right to report abuses.

However, the director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, Yll Buleshkaj, says that in this agency recently there has been an increase in cases that are presented to the officials responsible for reporting.

"In recent years, we have seen a continuous increase in the cases that are presented to the officials responsible for whistleblowing, either within the institution or public enterprises, or within us. The increase is great, but if we talk in absolute numbers, it is not a very large number. If in 2021 we had 9-10 cases, last year we had 14. There is an increase if we take it as a percentage, it is a good increase because it is over 40% increase, but as numbers we are still not satisfied with how much is being used this mechanism from those who may have information about various misuses, including corruption", said Buleshkaj.

According to Buleshkaj, there is an increase in cases of whistleblowing even within the institutions in which there are about 170 officials responsible for whistleblowing.

"Within the institutions, this number has been continuously increasing, from 2021 when it was around 30, last year it was 101, where there were institutions but also public enterprises that handled over 20 cases of internal whistleblowing. Here, it is worth mentioning the good case, I believe, of KEK where there were over 27 cases which the officials handled and issued over 100 recommendations, almost all of which have already been implemented by the KEK management. Likewise, we have also had a good practice of the Ministry of Justice who have handled over 20 cases, there have also been cases in the University Clinical Centers of Kosovo (QKUK) who have handled about 20 cases. Looking at the number, it can be seen that this mechanism has been used quite well and quite a lot in some institutions, and in some others almost not at all. Because we have about 170 responsible officials within institutions and public enterprises, while we have 100 cases handled, about 70 have been handled by only three institutions, all the others have handled 30 cases," he says.

Gëzim Shala from the Kosovo Institute for Justice says that the main focus should be on awareness and great information on the reporting.

"The initial problem that can be mentioned in this particular case is the fact that this law is not yet sufficiently known to all officials, and in this regard, this then affects the implemention of it. The great opportunities given by the Whistleblower Protection Law, there is a difference in this regard, between the public sector and the private sector, as the Whistleblower Protection Law applies to both sectors. Regarding the public sector, despite the fact that there have been some significant delays, the actions required for the consolidation of the whistleblowing system have been undertaken, for example, the officials responsible for handling whistleblowing cases have been appointed. And it was probably good news that at least in some institutions we have seen that a certain number of whistleblowing cases have been generated", says Shala.

What has stalled, according to the director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, is the use of this mechanism in private enterprises.

Buleshkaj emphasizes that last year only three companies submitted reports on the appointment of responsible officials.

While the law obliges private companies that for 50 employees to have an officer responsible for whistleblowing.

"What is very important and is not being developed is the use of this mechanism within private enterprises. We have very few companies that have designated it, and all those with over 50 employees are obliged to have an official... Last year, we only had three companies that submitted a report that the officials designated, one of there was also a case that was handled, it is a bank, among the main banks in Kosovo, another is a company that provides telecommunication services, and another is a business that deals with trade. We have a very small number of these companies that appoint contact officers and then handle cases", says Buleshkaj.

The lack of implementation of the Law on the protection of whistleblowers in the private sector is also emphasized by Gëzim Shala from the Kosovo Institute for Law.

"In the private sector, this remains a very pronounced problem, because in the private sector it seems that there is no adequate supervision in terms of the implementation of obligations and that in reality we do not have information whether there were whistleblowing cases from this sector or not, given the many problems faced by the private sector, we can definitely say that the construction or consolidation of the whistleblower system in the private sector is still far behind compared to the public sector", continued Shala.

In the Fol Movement, the organization that monitors the implementation of this law, they say that Kosovo's institutions continue to have a lack of knowledge about the whistleblowing reporting chain.

Researcher Albana Hasani says that among the difficulties identified is the non-publication of the names of the responsible officials on the websites of the institutions.

"Officials for the protection of whistleblowers are facing various challenges in terms of law enforcement, starting from the lack of knowledge about law enforcement, i.e. the lack of knowledge about the reporting chain of whistleblowing, then the lack of conditions for whistleblowing, this is because the responsible officials have emphasized that they share their offices with colleagues, then the lack of confidentiality, especially reports through emails, because according to them, all IT officials have access to official emails, there are various problems of this nature that make it impossible for the implementation of the provisions of this law to be efficient", says Hasani.

Hasani says that the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption has not done enough towards the implementation of this law, the reason, according to her, there is a lack of monitoring mechanisms and capacities.

"This inefficiency in the implementation of the law also stems from the fact that the government had a legal obligation to issue by-laws regarding the handling of whistle-blowing cases, six months after the entry into force of the law... These acts were supposed to be issued in July of 2019, while they were issued in July of 2021, i.e. with two years delay. This undoubtedly implies that there is a lack of will and a lack of seriousness," says Hasani.

In January 2019, the Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers entered into force, which also serves as a legal guide that shows who and how can become a whistleblower. The law covers both public and private sectors.

This feature was produced by the NGO “Center for Innovation and Development” with the financial support of EULEX Kosovo. Its content does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of EULEX Kosovo .