The Law for the Protection of Alerters against Corruption now has a date for coming into force. This Tuesday, the Official State Gazette (BOE) announced that it will come into force on 27 March.
The law is structured in 68 articles, six additional provisions, three transitory provisions and twelve final provisions.
Last Thursday, the Spanish Congress of Deputies approved the four amendments from the Senate, which means that the Law Regulating the Protection of Persons Reporting Regulatory Offences and the Fight against Corruption has become part of the Spanish legislative framework.
It received the majority support of the House, however, it was opposed by both the PP and Vox.
Brussels announced it was going to denounce Spain
The law was passed a day after Brussels announced that it was going to report Spain and seven other EU countries for failing to implement the legislation on time. The deadline was 17 December 2021.
According to the BOE, citizen collaboration is essential for the effectiveness of the law, and this is not only based on the correct personal fulfilment of one’s obligations, but also extends to the collective commitment to the proper functioning of public and private institutions.
For thanks to civic actions that warned of irregular and corrupt practices, investigations have been launched that have led to criminal convictions for such behaviour. The new law sets penalties of up to one million euros for those who retaliate against whistleblowers.
The purpose of the law is to protect people who, in a work or professional context, detect serious or very serious criminal or administrative offences and report them through the mechanisms regulated therein.
