BackThe new system of handling public interest disclosures, introduced as of 1 January 2014, is working in accordance with the regal regulations and has met prior expectations – in order to encourage the disclosure of information of general interest and protect the whistle-blowers, the relevant act delegates the operation of the new system to the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights. Through such activities, the Ombudsman and his Office contribute to the fight against corruption. The experience of recent months shows that public interest disclosures may uncover problems of different character as well.
A public interest disclosure draws attention to a circumstance whose remedying or elimination would serve the interests of the society as a whole. The new regulation is aimed at supporting whistle blowers, protecting and, if requested, confidentially handling and ensuring the safety of their personal data.
The Ombudsman operates a strictly protected electronic system for accepting and registering public interest disclosures. Up till 30 October 2014, the Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights received 270 public interest submissions. The investigations conducted by the Office show that forty out of one hundred were well grounded. They were mainly corruption cases, VAT and other tax evasions, complaints against the tax administration’s proceedings, environmental, waste dumping, construction, transportation and other administrative issues. Acting on these submissions, in most cases the Ombudsman turned to National Tax and Customs Administration, various government and mayors’ offices, police departments, environmental authorities and the National Public Health and Medical Officer Service; these so called proceeding authorities have all taken the necessary measures.
The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights may also investigate the way public interest disclosures are handled. He may order such an investigation ex officio; whistle blowers may also initiate an investigation if they find that their submissions are not thoroughly investigated by the proceeding authority, if they do not agree with the investigation’s conclusion or if their submissions have been found ungrounded. If the Commissioner finds any impropriety in connection with the handling of a public interest disclosure, he may give recommendations to the authority concerned or to the organ supervising its activities.
Another “benefit” of the Ombudsman’s activities related to public interest disclosures is that other anomalies have also been discovered. For instance, the State Audit Office was unable to launch and conduct an investigation into a public interest disclosure in connection with the utilization of public funds and the local governments’ asset management within the deadline stipulated by the law, as the act regulating the State Audit Office’s activities is not in accordance with the act on complaints and public interest disclosures. The Ombudsman initiated the elimination of this conflict between those two acts.
Source: Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, HUNGARY
