Feel safe in blowing the whistle through counsel!

October 17, 2018

Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission

The Republic of Korea

The ACRC to implement the revised Act on the Protection of Public Interest Whistleblowers that has introduced a representative reporting system under which a whistleblower may be represented by counsel and strengthened a provision of charges for compelling compliance on October 18

From October 18, the risk of identity disclosure that public interest whistleblowers are exposed to will be reduced thanks to a representative reporting system through which a whistleblower can be represented by counsel when they report acts of violation of the public interest which undermine the public health, safety, environment, and fair competition, etc.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC, Chairperson Pak Un Jong) plans to implement the revised Act on the Protection of Public Interest Whistleblowers (the “revised Act”) starting October 18, which has newly introduced a representative reporting system under which a public interest whistleblower can report wrongdoings through counsel representing the whistleblower, using the name of the counsel instead of his/her real name.

Under the revised Act, a public interest whistleblower may file a report under the name of the counsel he/she appoints without having to disclose his/her real name and submit relevant s or make opinion statements through the counsel. Moreover, the name of the counsel, instead of the whistleblower’s name, will be written on the s related to inspection or investigation of the case reported. Also, personal information of the whistleblower and a power of attorney will be sealed and kept by the ACRC.

On top of this, the upper ceiling on the amount of a charge for compelling compliance imposed on a person who fails to take protective measures for a whistleblower by the due date after he/she receives a decision to take protective measures from the ACRC will increase from the previous 20 million won (approx. equivalent to USD 18,000) to 30 million won (approx. equivalent to USD 27,000).

Furthermore, the revised Act stipulates that the ACRC shall impose a charge for compelling compliance, which could be only imposed within the limit of two years, until protective measures are taken, thereby enhancing the efficiency of a decision to take protective measures.

Director General Kim Jae Soo of the Inspection and Protection Bureau of the ACRC said “through this revision, a foundation has been laid for those who hesitated to file public interest reports out of concerns that their identities may be disclosed to file a report without such concerns. I expect internal whistleblowers to be more encouraged to disclose various covert acts of infringing the public interest.”