WHISTLE- BLOWER SCHEME

Transcription

1 WHISTLE- BLOWER SCHEME

2 WHISTLE-BLOWER SCHEME REPORTING OF POSSIBLE IRREGULARITIES IN THE DANISH INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES INTRODUCTION The Danish Institute for Human Rights is an independent institution within the Danish government sector. The institute is therefore subject to the legislation that applies to Danish public administration, including the Danish Public Administration Act, the Danish Open Administration Act and the Danish Act on State Accounting. The institute s activities are also regulated by internal and external demands, including demands from various donors. The board of the Danish Institute for Human Rights, the department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and the National Audit Office of Denmark oversee that the institute meets its obligations. Deloitte acts as the institute s internal auditor. The institute strives to ensure that all of its activities meet present-day demands of financial accountability, anti-corruption, good administrative behaviour and openness. Staff, collaborators and other actors must be able to express criticism to ensure that cases of maladministration are identified. The objective behind the institute s whistle-blower scheme is thus to render clear the various available opportunities for internal and external actors to report serious irregularities. 1 WHAT DOES THE SCHEME COMPRISE? Via the whistle-blower scheme the institute wishes to receive reports of serious incidents such as criminal offences, serious or persistent breaches of legislation or essential rules, breaches of contract and deliberate misrepresentation etc. Less serious incidents such as dissatisfaction with the work of the institute, wages, collaboration difficulties etc. are handled by and reported to the day-to- 1 The institute has drawn inspiration from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark s guide to handling reports of and enquiries into possible irregularities from May 2017.

3 day management, the cooperation committee, employee representatives or similar. TO WHOM SHOULD REPORTS BE SUBMITTED? Reports can be made to a person of your choice. If you wish to report an incident to the institute, you should contact one of the following persons: TITLE PERSON MAIL PHONE NO. Chairman Dorthe Elise Svinth formand@humanrights.dk Executive Director Jonas Christoffersen jch@humanrights.dk Department Director Ann Lisbeth Ingerslev anin@humanrights.dk Chief Legal Adviser Lise Garkier Hendriksen lgh@humanrights.dk In most cases, reports of suspicions of irregularities should naturally be made directly to the institute. If you do not wish to submit your report directly to the institute, it may depending on the nature of the case be relevant to contact external authorities: AUTHORITY MAIL PHONE NO. National Audit Office of Denmark info@rigsrevisionen.dk Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark controller@um.dk Danida s anti-corruption programme um@um.dk Danish police kbh@politi.dk Foreign police [depends on country] [depends on country] In case of suspicion of misuse of funds from another donor, a report should be made to the donor in question. CAN I BE ANONYMOUS? Reports can be made anonymously. However, anonymity may weaken a report, as it can be difficult to use anonymous information in a concrete case. If you wish to be anonymous, you must remember never to reveal your identity, as the one who receives the report is obligated to record all relevant information, including the name of the person submitting the report. If a member of staff has recorded the name of the person submitting the report if can as a rule not be deleted. Subsequent access to documents will thus reveal the identity of the person.

4 It is therefore important to make it clear from the start that you wish to remain anonymous. You can always choose to reveal your identity at a later point. INVESTIGATION PROCEDURE REPORTING The report must as far as possible describe all facts including factors that are considered unimportant. The report must as far as possible provide documentation of the claim that is being made. Any written documentation in the form of documents or similar should be submitted. The report may e.g. contain the following: Information about the person/department which the report concerns Brief description of the alleged irregularities Brief description of concrete observations (with documentation, if possible) Contact information INVESTIGATION The Danish Institute of Human Rights will investigate all cases of violations made by institute staff or collaborators of the rules that apply to the work of the institute. The institute has a duty to investigate cases where there is a fair, factual basis for suspecting staff or collaborators of especially serious, topical irregularities, which make it relevant to launch an investigation. According to the institute s anti-corruption policy, the institute has zero tolerance for corruption of any kind. Reports of breaches of this policy will therefore always result in an investigation. The chairman of the board is informed of all reports received by the institute. INVESTIGATION PROCESS Typically, the investigation process is as follows:

5 REPORT IS RECEIVED The report is received, and the day-to-day management decides how the case should be investigated The chairman of the board and the accused is informed of the report and the decision INVESTIGATION IS PREPARED The management prepares an investigation (e.g. by checking supporting documents etc.) The National Audit Office of Denmark is informed, where necessary (in so-called 'C cases') INVESTIGATION IS CONDUCTED The management conducts a thorough investigation Staff and collaborators are involved, where necessary In special cases the case is assigned to an external auditor, lawyer or similar CASES IS COMPLETED A memo is written, completing the investigation The person who submitted the report, the chairman of the board and, where relevant, authorities are informed In case of suspicion of a criminal offence, a police report is made MORE INFORMATION You can get more information and advice by contacting either the chairman of the board, the executive director, the department director or the chief legal adviser. See contact information above.

6

7