ACRC Strengthens Its Function of Protecting Corruption and Public Interest Violation Reporters

ACRC establishes an Inspection and Protection Bureau and beefs up the personnel handling matters regarding the inspection of reporters and provision of rewards thereto

July 25, 2018

Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, Ministry of the Interior and Safety

The Republic of Korea

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC, Chairperson Pak Un Jong) started to carry out its reorganization plan from July 25 to newly set up an Inspection and Protection Bureau within the Commission with a view to reinforcing its function of protecting reporters on acts of corruption and conduct detrimental to the public interest.

This reorganization plan has been devised to redesign the ACRC’s organizational functions and structure so that protective measures and rewards for reporters 고혈including whistleblowers can be provided in a more practical manner. Along with restructuring the organization, the personnel exclusively dealing with matters regarding the inspection of public interest violation reports and provision of rewards to reporters will be reinforced as well.

The major contents of this reorganization plan are as follows:

The function of anti-corruption policy formulation and implementation (Anti-Corruption Bureau) and the function of inspection of corruption and public interest violation reports and protection of reporters (Inspection and Protection Bureau) are separated.

The decision on this separation has been made based on a judgment that it is difficult to develop and implement field-specific anti-corruption policy under the current duty performance system in which various functions such as formulation of anti-corruption policy, inspection of reports, and reporter protection are mixed.

※ (Current) Anti-Corruption Bureau (in charge of general affairs related to policydesign & implementation and inspection of reports)

(Reformed) Anti-Corruption Bureau (exclusively responsible for anti-corruption policy) and Inspection & Protection Bureau (exclusively responsible for inspection of reports and reporter protection and rewards)

In addition to this, the functions of divisions exclusively in charge of affairs related to reporter protection and rewards have been reformed in a way that protection and rewards can be provided to reporters regardless of types of reports, unlike in the past when the procedures for providing protection measures and rewards to reporters had been differentiated in accordance with types of reports.

※ (Current) Protection & Reward Division (responsible for reports on acts of corruption), Public Interest Whistle-blowing Inspection & Policy Division, Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Division (responsible for public interest whistle-blowing)

(Reformed) Protection & Reward Policy Division, Whistleblower Protection Division, Whistleblower Protection Division, Whistleblower Reward Division

Through this structural reform, it is expected that a system under which reporters, including whistleblowers, can be properly protected and rewarded without having to face disadvantageous measures from the very first stage of receipt of reports to the final stage of processing will be established.