Vietnam Whistleblower Protection Legislation News
[Vietnam] Oversight of officials’ assets deters corruption, November 16, 2009
"Vietnam is drafting a separate law of protecting whistle blowers. Could you kindly provide some experience from other countries? No country can ensure absolute security for whistle blowers but how do you maximize protection?
This is a very good question, and requires careful consideration. This is precisely one of the key findings of a 2005 diagnostics survey on corruption by the former Central Committee on Internal Affairs. The great majority of civil servants and business staff were not enthusiastic in fighting corruption as they are afraid of being victimized, and not protected.
Very few countries have put in place specific legislations regulating the protection of denunciators or whistle-blowers who report corrupt practices. Global Integrity’s report available at http://report.globalintegrity.org/ provides valuable information from international experiences. In this report, Japan and the United Sates are among the few countries that have launched whistle-blower protection acts. In the case of Japan, the act is to protect workers reporting misconducts of businesses.
There is no act that specifically protects public sector whistle blowers. They are in principle treated and protected the same as other workers. However, there are some exceptions for public sector servants and, in some cases, the National Public Service Act, the Official Ethics Act, and others can have priority over the general Whistle-Blowers Act.
In practice, according to the Global Integrity, the Whistle-Blowers Protection Act does not seem to have been firmly established in the public sector. Public sector whistle-blowers seem to face substantial negative consequences, such as losing their jobs, being relocating to less prominent positions, or other forms of harassment.
Global Integrity also highlights that in some Southeast Asian countries (Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia), attempts to introduce whistle-blower and witness protection programmes have been made. Also, Malaysia has introduced a witness protection programme in Parliament as part of efforts to protect whistle-blowers in corruption cases.
Under this bill, the Attorney General approves applications by whistle-blowers who have met an exhaustive list of criteria, including passing physical and mental examinations. In the case of the Philippines, there are eight pending whistle-blowing bills in the House and Senate. The currently existing legal framework that protects witnesses of criminal acts in the Philippines is known as the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act."
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