ACT No. LXVII of 2021 AN ACT to amend the Protection of the Whistleblower Act, Cap.

I assent.

(L.S.)

GEORGE VELLA

President

18th December, 2021

ACT No. LXVII of 2021

AN ACT to amend the Protection of the Whistleblower Act, Cap.

527. BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and

consent of the House of Representatives, in this present Parliament

assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-

(1) The short title of this Act is the Protection of the

commencement.

Whistleblower (Amendment) Act, 2021 and this Act shall be read and

construed as one with the Protection of the Whistleblower Act,

hereinafter referred to as "the principal Act".

(2) This Act shall come into force on such date or dates as the

Minister for Justice and Governance may by notice in the Gazette

establish, and different dates may be so established for different

provisions of this Act.

(3) This Act transposes Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the

European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the

protection of persons who report breaches of Union law.

Article 2 of the principal Act shall be amended by the Amendment of

article 2 of the

principal Act.

(a) sub-article (1) thereof shall be amended by the

following

(i) immediately after the definition "disciplined

force" thereof there shall be added the following new

definition

" "disclose" or "to disclose" means the oral or

written communication of information on improper

practice;";

(ii) paragraph (g) of the definition "employee"

thereof shall be substituted by the following new

paragraphs

"(g) any candidate for employment only

where information concerning improper practices has

been acquired during the recruitment process or other

pre-contractual negotiations;

(h) shareholders and persons belonging to the

administrative, management or supervisory body of

an undertaking, including non-executive members,

and paid or unpaid trainees;";

(iii) immediately after the definition "External

Whistleblowing Disclosure Unit" thereof there shall be

added the following new definitions

" "facilitator" means a person who assists a

reporting person in the reporting process in a work-

related context, and whose assistance should be

confidential;

"feedback" means the provision to the reporting

person of information on the action envisaged or

taken as follow-up and on the grounds for such

follow-up;

"follow-up" means any action taken by the

recipient of a disclosure or any competent authority,

to assess the accuracy of the allegations made in the

report and, where relevant, to address the improper

practice reported, including through actions such as

an internal enquiry, an investigation, prosecution, an

action for recovery of funds, or the closure of the

procedure;";

(iv) the definition "improper practice" thereof shall

be substituted by the following new definition

" "improper practice" means an action or a

series of actions whereby

(a) a person has failed, is failing or is

likely to fail to comply with any legal

obligation to which he is subject; or

(b) the health or safety of any

individual has been, is being or is likely to be

endangered; or

(c) the environment has been, is being

or is likely to be damaged; or

(d) a corrupt practice has occurred or is

likely to occur or to have occurred; or

(e) a criminal offence has been

committed, is being committed or is likely to be

committed; or

(f) a miscarriage of justice has

occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur; or

(g) bribery has occurred or is likely to

occur or to have occurred; or

(h) a person has failed, is failing or is

likely to fail to comply with any legal

obligation on public procurement to which he is

subject; or

(i) a person has failed, is failing or is

likely to fail to comply with laws on financial

services, products and markets, and prevention

of money laundering and terrorist financing; or

(j) a person has failed, is failing or is

likely to fail to comply with product safety and

compliance law; or

(k)

a person has failed, is failing or is

likely to fail in ensuring transport safety; or

(l) a person has failed, is failing or is

likely to fail in ensuring radiation protection

and nuclear safety; or

(m) a person has failed, is failing or

likely to fail in ensuring a food and feed safety,

animal health and welfare; or

(n) a person has failed, is failing or is

likely to fail to comply with any legal

obligation on consumer protection to which he

is subject; or

(o) a person has failed, is failing or is

likely to fail to comply with any legal

obligation on protection of privacy and

personal data, and security of network and

information systems to which he is subject; or

(p) a breach affecting the financial

interests of the European Union as referred to

in Article 325 of the Treaty on the Functioning

of the European Union (TFEU) and further

specified in relevant European Union measures

has occurred or is likely to occur or to have

occurred; or

(q) a breach relating to the internal

market, as referred to in Article 26(2) of the

Treaty on the Functioning of the European

Union (TFEU), including breaches of European

Union competition and State aid rules, as well

as breaches relating to the internal market in

relation to acts which breach the rules of

corporate tax or to arrangements the purpose of

which is to obtain a tax advantage that defeats

the object or purpose of the applicable

corporate tax law has occurred or is likely to

occur or to have occurred; or

(r) information tending to show any

matter falling within any one (1) of the

preceding paragraphs has been, is being or is

likely to be deliberately concealed

Provided that, in the interpretation of this

definition due account shall be given to the de

minimis rule so that very minor or trivial matters

shall not fall under the provisions of this Act;";

(v) immediately after the definition "improper

practice" thereof there shall be added the following new

definition

"‘information on improper practices" means

information, including reasonable suspicions, about

actual or potential improper practices, which

occurred or are very likely to occur in the

organisation in which the reporting person works or

has worked or in another organisation with which the

reporting person is or was in contact through his

work, and about attempts to conceal such breaches;";

(vi) the definition "occupational detriment" thereof

shall be substituted by the following new definition

" "occupational detriment", means any direct or

indirect act or omission which occurs in a work

related context, which is prompted by internal or

external disclosures or by public disclosure, and

which causes or may cause unjustified detriment to

the whistleblower and may include

(a) suspension, lay-off, dismissal or

equivalent measures;

(b) demotion

or

withholding

of

promotion;

(c) transfer of duties, change of

location of place of work, reduction in wages,

change in working hours;

(d)

withholding of training;

(e) a negative performance assessment

or employment reference;

(f) imposition or administering of any

disciplinary measure, reprimand or other

penalty, including a financial penalty;

(g)

coercion, intimidation, harassment

or ostracism;

(h) discrimination, disadvantageous or

unfair treatment;

(i) failure to convert a temporary

employment contract into a permanent one,

where the worker had legitimate expectations

that he would be offered permanent

employment;

(j) failure to renew, or early

termination of, a temporary employment

contract;

(k) harm, including to the person's

reputation, particularly in social media, or

financial loss, including loss of business and

loss of income;

(l) blacklisting on the basis of a sector

or industry-wide informal or formal agreement,

which may entail that this person will not, in

the future, find employment in the sector or

industry;

(m) early termination or cancellation of

a contract for goods or services;

(n)

cancellation of a licence or permit;

(o)

psychiatric or medical referrals;

(p) being subjected to any disciplinary

action including for breach of ethics or

confidentiality;

(q) being subjected to a term or

condition of employment or retirement which is

altered or kept altered to his disadvantage

Provided that, this shall not apply where

the action is taken where the direct or indirect act or

omission is administratively or commercially

justifiable for organizational reasons;";

(vii) immediately after the definition "person"

thereof there shall be added the following new definition

" "person concerned" means a natural or legal

person who is referred to in the report or public

disclosure as a person to whom the improper practice

is attributed or with whom that person is

associated;";

(viii) immediately after the definition "public

administration" thereof, there shall be added the following

new definition

""public disclosure" means a disclosure made

in accordance with Section 4 of Part III;"; and

(ix) in the definition "whistleblowing reports unit"

thereof, the words "Disclosure Unit." shall be substituted

by the words "Disclosure Unit;" and immediately

thereafter there shall be added the following new

definition

" "work-related context" means current or past

work activities in the public or private sector through

which, irrespective of the nature of those activities,

persons acquire information on improper practices

and within which those persons may suffer retaliation

if they reported such information.";

(b) immediately after sub-article (3) thereof there shall

be added the following new sub-articles

"(4) Where specific rules on the reporting of

breaches are provided for in the sector-specific laws listed

in the Third Schedule, those laws shall apply. The

provisions of this Act shall be applicable to the extent that

a matter is not mandatorily regulated in those laws.

(5) This Act shall not affect the exercise by

workers of their rights to consult their representatives or

trade unions, and on protection against any unjustified

detrimental action prompted by such consultations as well

as on the autonomy of the social partners and their right to

enter into collective agreements. This is without prejudice

to the level of protection granted by this Act.".

Immediately after sub-article (2) of article 4 of the principal

Act there shall be added the following new sub-articles

"(3) The protection afforded to a whistleblower

shall, where relevant, be extended to

(a) facilitators;

(b) third persons who are connected with

the reporting persons and who could suffer

retaliation in a work-related context, such as

colleagues or relatives of the reporting persons;

(c) legal entities that the reporting

persons own, work for or are otherwise connected

with in a work-related context; and

(d) legal aid in criminal and in cross-

border civil proceedings in accordance with the

relevant provisions of the Criminal Code and

Directive 2008/52/EC of the European Parliament

and of the Council of 21 May 2008 on certain

aspects of mediation in civil and commercial

matters and in accordance with national law, legal

aid in further proceedings and legal counselling or

other legal counselling.

(4) The whistleblower shall have access to

(a) comprehensive

and

independent

information and advice, which is easily accessible

to the public and free of charge, on procedures

and remedies available, on protection against

retaliation, and on the rights of the person

concerned;

(b) effective assistance from competent

authorities before any relevant authority involved

in their protection against retaliation, including,

where provided for under national law,

certification of the fact that they qualify for

protection under this Act; and

(c) legal aid in criminal and in cross-

border civil proceedings in accordance with

Directive (EU) 2016/1919 of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016

on legal aid for suspects and accused persons in

criminal proceedings and for requested persons in

European arrest warrant proceedings and Directive

2008/52/EC of the European Parliament and of the

Council of 21 May 2008 on certain aspects of

mediation in civil and commercial matters and, in

accordance with national law, legal aid in further

proceedings and legal counselling or other legal

assistance.".

Immediately after sub-article (4) of article 6 of the principal

Act, there shall be added the following new sub-article

"(5) Every whistleblowing reporting officer or

whistleblowing reports Unit that receive information on

breaches that includes trade secrets as defined under

article 2 of the Trade Secrets Act shall not use or

disclose those trade secrets for purposes going beyond

what is necessary for proper follow-up.".

Immediately after article 6 of the principal Act, there shall be

added the following new articles

Any processing of personal data carried out

pursuant to this Act, including the exchange or

transmission of personal data by the whistleblowing

reporting officer or whistleblowing reports Unit, shall

be carried out in accordance with Regulation (EU)

2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the

Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural

persons with regard to the processing of personal data

and on the free movement of such data, and repealing

Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection

Regulation), the Data Protection Act and the Data

Protection (Processing of Personal Data by Competent

Authorities for the Purposes of the Prevention,

Investigation, Detection or Prosecution of Criminal

Offences or the Execution of Criminal Penalties)

Regulations

Provided that, personal data which are

manifestly not relevant for the handling of a specific

report shall not be collected or, if accidentally

collected, shall be deleted without undue delay.

Where a person discloses information on

breaches under this breaches falling within the scope of this Act, and that

information includes trade secrets, and where that

person meets the conditions of this Act, such a

disclosure shall be considered lawful under the

conditions of article 5(2) of the Trade Secrets Act.".

6. Sub-articles (4), (5) and (6) of article 7 of the principal Act

shall be renumbered as sub-articles (5), (6) and (7) respectively and

immediately after sub-article (3) thereof there shall be added the

following new sub-article

"(4) In proceedings referred to in sub-article (1), where

the whistleblower establishes that he made an internal, external

or public disclosure and suffered a detriment, it shall be

presumed that the detriment was made in retaliation for the

report or the public disclosure. In such cases, it shall be for the

person who has taken the detrimental measure to prove that, that

measure was based on duly justified grounds.".

Sub-article (1) of article 9 of the principal Act shall be Amendment of

article 9 of the

substituted by the following

principal Act.

"(1) A disclosure is a protected disclosure if the

whistleblower

(a) had reasonable grounds to believe that the

information on breaches disclosed was true at the time of

the disclosure and that such information fell within the

scope of this Act; and

(b) disclosed internally in accordance with article

12 or externally in accordance with article 16, or made a

public disclosure in accordance with article 18A.".

Article 10 of the principal Act shall be substituted by the Substitution of

article 10 of the

principal Act.

(1) Saving the provisions of article 6A(c) of

the Professional Secrecy Act, nothing in this Act

authorises a person to disclose information protected by

legal and medical professional privilege and a

disclosure of such information is not a protected

disclosure for the purposes of this Act.

(2) This Act shall not affect the application of laws

relating to the protection of classified information, the

secrecy of judicial deliberations and rules on criminal

procedure.".

9. Article 11 of the principal Act shall be substituted by the Substitution of

article 11 of the

principal Act.

(1) Anonymously made disclosures shall not

be a protected disclosure in terms of this Act.

(2) The whistleblowing reporting officer or the

whistleblowing reports Unit may receive and process

anonymous disclosures and may take that disclosure

into consideration in determining whether improper

practice has occurred.

(3) Despite the provisions of sub-article (1)

when following a public disclosure with information on

breaches that is made anonymously the whistleblower

is subsequently identified and suffers retaliation, that

disclosure shall still be a protected disclosure provided

that the disclosure satisfies the conditions established in

article 9(1).".

10. Article 12 of the principal Act, shall be substituted by the

(1) Without prejudice to article 16 and

article 18A, every employer shall have in operation

internal procedures for receiving and dealing with

information about improper practice committed within

or by that organisation; such internal procedures shall at

least include the following

(a) channels for receiving the reports in

writing or orally, or both. Oral reporting shall be

made possible by telephone or through other

voice messaging systems, and, upon request by

the reporting person, by means of a physical

meeting within a reasonable time frame. Such

channels shall be designed, established and

operated in a secure manner that ensures that the

confidentiality of the identity of the

whistleblower and any third party mentioned in

the disclosure is protected, and prevents access

thereto by non-authorised staff members;

(b) the designation of a whistleblowing

reporting officer competent for following-up on

the reports which may be the same person or

department as the one that receives the protected

disclosure

and

which

will

maintain

communication with the whistleblower and,

where necessary, ask for further information from

and provide feedback to that whistleblower;

(c) diligent follow-up by the designated

person or department referred to in paragraph (b).

(2)

Clear and easily accessible information about

the existence of the internal procedures, and adequate

information on how to use the procedures shall be

published widely within the organisation and shall be

republished at regular intervals. Every employer shall

also provide clear and easily accessible information

regarding the procedures for reporting externally to

competent authorities pursuant to article 15 and, where

relevant to institutions, bodies, offices or agencies of

the European Union.

(3) An internal disclosure is a protected disclosure

made in accordance with the provisions of this Act if it

is made by an employee to an employer substantially in

the manner established by internal p rocedures

established by the employer for receiving or dealing

with such disclosures.

(4) For purposes of Part III Section 2, "employer"

means the same as the meaning assigned to it in the

Second Schedule

Provided that, this shall not apply to entities

falling within the scope of Part I(B) and II of the Third

Schedule

Provided further that, organisation in the

private sector with fifty (50) to two hundred and forty-

nine (249) workers may share resources as regards the

receipt of reports and any investigation that shall be

carried out. This shall be without prejudice to the

obligations imposed upon private sector organisations

by this Act to maintain confidentiality, to give

feedback, and to address the reported breach.".

11. Sub-article (1) of article 13 of the principal Act, shall be Amendment of

article 13 of the

substituted by the following new sub-article

principal Act.

"(1) The whistleblowing reporting officer shall

acknowledge receipt of an internal disclosure within seven (7)

days of receipt and provide feedback within a reasonable time,

not exceeding three (3) months from the acknowledgment of

receipt or, if no acknowledgment was sent to the reporting

person, three (3) months from the expiry of the seven (7) day

period after the report was made.".

12. In sub-article (1) of article 16 of the principal Act, Amendment of

immediately after the words "may be made to the whistleblowing article

principal Act.

reports Unit of the authority as provided in the First Schedule" there

shall be added the word "directly".

Article 17 of the principal Act shall be amended by the

following

(a) sub-article (1) thereof shall be substituted by

the following

"(1) All authorities referred to in the First

Schedule shall

(a) set up an independent and

autonomous whistleblowing reports Unit,

for receiving and handling information on

breaches and which shall meet all the

following criteria

(i) is designed, established

and operated in a manner that ensures

the completeness, integrity and

confidentiality of the information and

prevents access thereto by non-

authorised staff members of the

authority;

(ii) enables

the

durable

storage of information in accordance

with article 21A to allow further

investigations to be carried out;

(b) promptly, and in any event

within seven (7) days of receipt of the

external disclosure, acknowledge that

receipt unless the whistleblower explicitly

requested otherwise or the whistleblowing

reports Unit reasonably believes that

acknowledging receipt of the disclosure

shall jeopardise the protection of the

reporting person’s identity;

(c) diligently follow up on external

disclosures;

(d) provide

feedback

to

the

whistleblower within a reasonable time

frame not exceeding three (3) months, or six

(6) months in duly justified cases;

(e) communicate

to

the

whistleblower the final outcome of

investigations triggered by the report, in

accordance with procedures provided for

under national law;

(f) transmit in due time the

information contained in the disclosures to

competent institutions, bodies, offices or

agencies of the European Union, as

appropriate, for further investigation, where

provided for under law.";

(b) sub-article (2) thereof shall be renumbered as

sub-article (10) thereof and immediately after sub-

article (1) thereof, there shall be added the following

new sub-articles

"(2) The whistleblowing reports Unit shall

enable external disclosures in writing and orally.

Oral disclosures shall be possible by telephone or

through other voice messaging systems and, upon

request by the whistleblower, by means of a

physical meeting within a reasonable time-frame.

(3) The whistleblowing reports Unit shall

ensure that, where an external disclosure is

received through channels other than the

reporting channels referred to in sub-articles (1)

and (2) or by staff members other than those

responsible for handling reports, the staff

members who receive it are prohibited from

disclosing any information that may identify the

whistleblower or the person concerned, and that

they promptly forward the report without

modification to the staff members responsible for

handling reports.

(4) The whistleblowing reports Unit shall

designate staff members responsible for handling

reports, and in particular for

(a) providing any interested person

with information on the procedures for

reporting;

(b) receiving and following up on

external disclosures;

(c) maintaining contact with the

whistleblower for the purpose of providing

feedback and requesting further information

where necessary.

(5) The staff members referred to in sub-

article (4) shall receive specific training for the

purposes of handling reports

(a) providing any interested person

with information on the procedures for

reporting;

(b) receiving and following up on

external disclosures;

(c) maintaining contact with the

whistleblower for the purpose of providing

feedback and requesting further information

where necessary.

(6) The whistleblowing reports Unit shall

publish on their websites in a separate, easily

identifiable and accessible section at least the

following information

(a) the conditions for qualifying for

protection under this Act;

(b) the contact details for the

whistleblowing reports Unit as provided for

under sub-article (1), in particular the

electronic and postal addresses, and the

phone numbers for such channels,

indicating whether the phone conversations

are recorded;

(c) the procedures applicable to the

reporting of breaches, including the manner

in which the competent authority may

request the whistleblower to clarify the

information reported or to provide

additional information, the time frame for

providing feedback and the type and content

of such feedback;

(d) the

confidentiality

regime

applicable to reports, and in particular the

information in relation to the processing of

personal data in accordance with article 6A,

Articles 5 and 13 of Regulation (EU) 2016/

679 of the European Parliament and of the

Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection

of natural persons with regard to the

processing of personal data and on the free

movement of such data, and repealing

Directive

95/46/EC

(General

Data

Protection Regulation), regulation 13 of the

Data Protection (Processing of Personal

Data by Competent Authorities for the

Purposes of the Prevention, Investigation,

Detection or Prosecution of Criminal

Offences or the Execution of Criminal

Penalties) Regulations and Article 15 of

Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 23 October

2018 on the protection of natural persons

with regard to the processing of personal

data by the Union institutions, bodies,

offices and agencies and on the free

movement of such data, and repealing

Regulation (EC) No. 45/2001 and Decision

No. 1247/2002/EC, as applicable;

(e)

the nature of the follow-up that

shall be given to reports;

(f)

the remedies and procedures for

protection against retaliation and the

availability of confidential advice for

persons contemplating reporting;

(g)

a statement clearly explaining

the conditions under which persons

disclosing to the competent authority are

protected from incurring liability for a

breach of confidentiality pursuant to article

4(1); and

(h)

contact

details

of

the

information centre or of the single

independent administrative authority as

provided for in article 4(4) where

applicable.

(7) The whistleblowing reports Units

shall review their procedures for receiving

disclosures, and their follow-up, regularly, and at

least once every three (3) years. In reviewing such

procedures, competent authorities shall take

account of their experience as well as that of other

whistleblowing reports Unit and adapt their

procedures accordingly.

(8) The whistleblowing reports Units may

close procedures regarding repetitive reports

which do not contain any meaningful new

information on improper practice compared to a

past report in respect of which the relevant

procedures were concluded, unless new legal or

factual circumstances justify a different follow-

up. In such a case, the whistleblowing reports

Units shall notify the reporting person of their

decision and the reasons thereof.

(9) In the event of high inflows of reports,

whistleblowing reports Units may deal with

reports of serious breaches or breaches of

essential provisions falling within the scope of

this Act as a matter of priority, without prejudice

to the time frame as set out in paragraph (d) of

sub-article (1).".

The new Section 4 and new article 18A to the principal Act,

shall be added as follows

(a) in the first, second and third columns of the

Arrangement of Act thereof, immediately after the words

"Section 3 External Disclosures 15-18" there shall be added

a fresh line with the words "Section 4

Public Disclosures

18A"; and

(b) immediately after article 18 thereof there shall be

added the new heading and new article as follows

"SECTION 4

PUBLIC DISCLOSURES

(1) Except as provided in this Part, a public

disclosure shall only be protected if an internal disclosure

in accordance with Section 2 of this Part and an external

disclosure in accordance with Section 3 of this Part has

already been made, but no appropriate action was taken in

response to the report within the time-frames referred to in

article 13(1) and article 17(1)(b).

A public disclosure shall be as a protected disclosure

under this Act if any one (1) of the following conditions

are fulfilled

The whistleblower has reasonable grounds to believe

that

(a) the breach may constitute an imminent or

manifest danger to the public interest, such as when

there is an emergency situation or a risk of

irreversible damage; or

(b) in the case of external reporting, there is a

risk of retaliation or there is a low prospect of the

breach being effectively addressed, due to the

particular circumstances of the case, such as those

where evidence may be concealed or destroyed or

where an authority may be in collusion with the

perpetrator of the breach or involved in the breach.

(2) This article shall not apply to cases where a

person directly discloses information to the press pursuant

to specific national law establishing a system of protection

relating to freedom of expression and information.".

15. Immediately after article 21 of the principal Act, there shall Addition of new

article 21A to

be added the following new article

the principal

Act.

(1) Whistleblowing reports Unit and the

whistleblowing reporting officers shall keep records of

e v e r y r e p o r t r e c e i v e d , i n c om p l i a n c e w i t h t h e

confidentiality requirements provided for in article 6

Provided that, reports shall be stored for no

longer than it is necessary and proportionate in order to

comply with the requirements imposed by this Act, or

other requirements imposed by law.

(2) Where a recorded telephone line or another

recorded voice messaging system is used for disclosing,

s u b j e c t t o t h e c o n s e n t o f t h e w h i s t l e b l o w e r,

whistleblowing reports Unit and whistleblowing

reporting officers shall have the right to document the

oral reporting in one (1) of the following ways

(a) by making a recording of the

conversation in a durable and retrievable form; or

(b) through a complete and accurate

transcript of the conversation prepared by the

staff members responsible for handling the report.

Whistleblowing reports Unit and whistleblowing

reporting officers shall offer the whistleblower

the opportunity to check, rectify and agree the

transcript of the call by signing it.

(3) Where an unrecorded telephone line or another

unrecorded voice messaging system is used for

disclosing, whistleblowing reports Units and

whistleblowing reporting officers shall have the right to

document the oral disclosure in the form of accurate

minutes of the conversation written by the staff member

responsible for handling the disclosure. The

whistleblowing reports Unit and whistleblowing

reporting officer shall offer the whistleblower the

opportunity to check, rectify and agree the minutes of

the conversation by signing them.

(4) Where a person requests a meeting with the

whistleblowing reports Unit and whistleblowing

reporting officers for disclosing purposes pursuant to

article 12(1)(a) and article 17(2), whistleblowing

reports Unit and whistleblowing reporting office shall

ensure, subject to the consent of the whistleblower, that

complete and accurate records of the meeting are kept

in a durable and retrievable form. The whistleblowing

reports Unit and whistleblowing reporting officers shall

have the right to document the meeting in one of the

following ways

(a) by making a recording of the

conversation in a durable and retrievable form; or

(b) through accurate minutes of the

meeting prepared by the staff members

responsible for handling the report

Provided that, whistleblowing reports

Units and whistleblowing reporting officers shall

offer the whistleblower the opportunity to check,

rectify and agree the minutes of the meeting by

signing them.".

16. Item (2) of the Second Schedule to the principal Act shall be

substituted by the following new item

"(2) Any organisation within the private sector with fifty

(50) or more workers or where following an appropriate risk

assessment taking into account the nature of the activities of the

organisation and the ensuing level of risk for, in particular the

environment and public health may require an organisation in the

private sector with fewer than fifty (50) workers to establish an

internal disclosure channel and procedure in accordance with

Section 2 of Part III.".

17. Immediately after the Second Schedule to the principal Act, Addition of new

Third Schedule

there shall be added the following new Schedule

to the principal

Act.

"Third Schedule

[Articles 2 and 12]

The Annex of Commission Directive (EU) 2019/1937 shall be

applicable in its entirety as the Third Schedule to this Act.".

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 530 of the

14th December, 2021.

ANĠLU FARRUGIA

Speaker

RAYMOND SCICLUNA

Clerk of the House of Representatives

€1.98