At its hearing on 13 July 2022, the Constitutional Court, in its a priori review of constitutionality, unanimously dismissed, as unfounded, the objection of unconstitutionality and found that the provisions of Articles 1 (4), (6) and (7) and 19 of the Law on the protection of whistleblowers in the public interest, as well as the law as a whole, were constitutional in relation to the complaints raised.
In essence, the Court has held that the role of the whistleblower is to disclose and communicate law infringements committed within an organisation. Such communication is made either through internal/external reporting at the level of the organisation concerned or through public disclosure. The legislator chose internal/external reporting and public disclosure to take place successively and not at the same time, protecting both the entity subject to the law and the state of legality in which it must carry out its activities. The law therefore regulates the conduct of the whistleblower, without prejudice to his or her ability to publicly disclose the information subject to the law and without prejudice to the provisions on the rules of criminal procedure relating to the referral to the prosecution bodies. Such procedural rules merely strengthen the role of whistle-blowers in society and make them accountable for their work. The establishment of a procedure for carrying out reporting/public disclosure of information falling within the scope of the law, as well as the delimitation according to objective criteria of steps related to this activity are without prejudice to the legal protection of whistleblowers. The Court has also held that the new rules, by laying down measures of protection, support and redress for the benefit of whistleblowers, enshrine an adequate standard of legal protection for whistleblowers.
Decisions are final and generally binding.
The arguments substantiating the decisions of the Constitutional Court will be set out in the decisions, which will be published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I.
External Relations, Press and Protocol Department of the Constitutional Court