News item | 01-31-2024 | 12:02
Whistleblowers will be eligible for free legal assistance from February 1 mediation. The State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitalization, the Minister for Legal Protection and the House for Whistleblowers have made an arrangement for this. They have asked the Legal Aid Board to implement this in collaboration with the House for Whistleblowers. The scheme has been drawn up to better enable whistleblowers to enforce their legal protection.
State Secretary Van Huffelen (Kingdom Relations and Digitalization) is happy with this result for whistleblowers: “A whistleblower reports something in the social interest and should therefore not be alone.”
Minister Weerwind (for Legal Protection): “It takes courage to address abuses. Only then can something be done about these abuses. That is why we must protect whistleblowers and provide them with the legal support they need. From February 1 of this year, they can therefore use free legal assistance or mediation.”
Protection
By arranging free legal assistance, whistleblowers can receive help in an accessible way. This is possible, for example, if they notice possible adverse effects of their report. One of the goals of this scheme is to increase willingness to report.
Since September 1, 2022, whistleblowers have been eligible for psychosocial support from Victim Support Netherlands after referral from the Advice department of the House for Whistleblowers. Now legal support through the Legal Aid Board has also been added. The Advice department of the House for Whistleblowers assesses, based on information provided by the whistleblower, whether there is a reasonable suspicion of social abuse in the working environment as referred to in the Whistleblowers Protection Act.
If the Advice department of the House for Whistleblowers comes to the conclusion that legal support is required because there may be detriment or criminalization as a result of a report of suspected wrongdoing, the department will issue a referral letter to the whistleblower for legal assistance and/or mediation. With this referral letter, the whistleblower can report to the Legal Aid Board for subsidized legal assistance by a lawyer and/or a mediator. There is no income and assets test when granting legal aid and no personal contribution is required.
Wilbert Tomesen, chairman of the House for Whistleblowers:
“We are very happy that we can respond to a need that we have been hearing from whistleblowers for years. Unfortunately, we still see discrimination happening all too often after reporting an abuse. It is therefore necessary that the people who have done something in the interest of all of us, and subsequently got into trouble, are actually supported with free legal assistance.”
Evaluation
The scheme has a term of four years and will be evaluated after two years. The results of this evaluation will be used to determine how the legal support for whistleblowers can ultimately best be structured.
Sender
- Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations
- Ministry of Justice and Security
- House for whistleblowers
For more information:
- Ministry of the Interior: spokesperson Petra Huijser, 0611141285, [email protected]
- Ministry of Justice and Security: spokesperson Frerick Althof, 0621145605, [email protected]
- House for Whistleblowers: spokesperson Danielle van Essen, 0615126971, [email protected]