Internal notification system

What is an illegal act, or Violation of European Union law?

Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report violations of European Union law (Whistleblower Protection Directive) defines the areas in which reported illegal acts must fall. These areas are:

• awarding public contracts,
• financial services, products and markets and prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing,
• product safety and compliance,
• traffic safety,
• environmental Protection,
• radiation protection and nuclear safety,
• food and feed safety, animal health and welfare,
• public health,
• consumer protection and
• protection of privacy and personal data and security of networks and information systems.

Furthermore, it is a violation threatening the financial interests of the European Union according to Article 325 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and specified in more detail in the relevant measures of the Union, and a violation related to the internal market according to Article 26, paragraph 2 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (including violations of EU competition rules and state aid as well as internal market violations in relation to conduct that violates corporate tax rules or mechanisms designed to obtain a tax advantage that defeats the object or purpose of the relevant corporate tax law persons).

Who is the internal notification system intended for?

In accordance with Act No. 171/2023 Coll., on the protection of whistleblowers (hereinafter referred to as the “Act”, in Czech), TGM WRI, p. r. i., established an internal notification system as a mandatory entity (hereinafter referred to as “INS TGM WRI”) and designated the relevant person responsible for receiving and investigating reports of illegal activity and other actions under the law.

TGM WRI as a mandatory entity may not exclude the receipt of notifications through INS TGM WRI from so-called non-excluded notifiers, i.e. from persons who perform (or apply for) work or other similar activities for TGM WRI according to § 2 paragraph 3 letter a), b), h) and i) of the Act. Non-excluded whistleblowers of illegal behavior through INS TGM WRI are therefore persons who perform (or apply for) for TGM WRI:

• dependent work performed in a basic employment relationship (i.e. in an employment relationship or on the basis of an agreement on work activities and an agreement on the execution of work),
• service (see Act No. 221/1999 Coll., on professional soldiers, as amended, Act No. 361/2003 Coll., on the employment relationship of members of the security forces, as amended, Act No. 234/2014 Coll. ., on civil service, as amended),
• volunteering, or
• professional practice, internship.

TGM WRI, as a mandatory entity, excludes receiving notifications through INS TGM WRI from so-called excluded notifiers, i.e. from all persons who do not perform (or apply for) work or other similar activities for TGM WRI according to § 2 paragraph 3 letter a), b), h) and i) of the Act. Excluded whistleblowers are encouraged to use the Ministry of Justice’s external whistleblowing system (in Czech) to report wrongdoing. More information is available on the website of the Ministry of Justice (in Czech).

Notification via INS TGM WRI

INS TGM WRI is used to submit notifications from whistleblowers or corruption whistleblowers. It is therefore used both for the investigation of illegal acts and for the investigation of corrupt acts. In both cases, the investigation is carried out by a so-called competent person.

Notification via INS TGM WRI is submitted by a non-excluded notifier, or TGM WRI accepts as a mandatory entity:

• in writing (including in person), or
• orally (including in person).

Non-excluded whistleblowers are asked to use the Written Notification of Illegal Conduct form (in Czech) to make a written notification. We recommend non-excluded whistleblowers to prepare the information required by this form even for submitting a verbal notification. Please note that the part of the notification that contains information according to Section 3, paragraph 3 of the Act is not considered a notification according to the law, and that the submission of a knowingly false notification is considered an offense for which a fine can be imposed, a fine of up to CZK 50,000 can be imposed.

The written notification is submitted through the INS TGM WRI:

• by sending a notification via the e-mail address of the relevant person protipravni.jednani@vuv.cz; this method is recommended
• by sending a notification via letter sent to the registered address of the obliged entity, which is also the address for delivery to the relevant person (T.G. Masaryk Water Research Institute, public research institution, Podbabská 2582/30, 160 00 Prague 6), in an envelope without indicating the sender and marked with the text “Do not open, to the hands of the relevant person according to the Whistleblower Protection Act!”,
• at the request of the notifier in person, i.e. by a personal meeting with the relevant person, during which a written notification can be submitted; the relevant person is obliged to accept a written notification in person at the request of the notifier within a reasonable period of time, but no later than 14 days from the day on which the notifier requested it.

Verbal notification is given through INS TGM WRI:

• via a telephone line with an answering machine +420 220 197 201, i.e. by leaving a voice message on the answering machine; this method is recommended
• direct telephone lines of the relevant person published in a way that allows remote access, i.e. by telephone conversation with the relevant person,
• at the request of the notifier in person, i.e. by a personal meeting with the relevant person, during which a verbal notification can be submitted; the relevant person is obliged to accept a verbal notification in person at the request of the notifier within a reasonable period of time, but no later than 14 days from the day on which the notifier requested it.

The contact for the Relevant Person in VÚV TGM is:

email: pravnik@vuv.cz
tel.: +420 220 197 350

For more details on whistleblower protection, see the Whistleblowing Notification System internal regulation (in Czech).

Notification content

The notification pursuant to Section 2, Paragraph 1 of the Act contains information about a possible illegal act that has occurred or is expected to occur:

• at TGM WRI as a person for whom the non-excluded whistleblower, even if indirectly, performed or is performing (or is applying or is applying for) work or other similar activity pursuant to § 2 paragraph 3 letter a), h) and i) of the Act, or
• in the case of a person with whom the non-excluded whistleblower was or is in contact in connection with the performance of work or other similar activity pursuant to § 2 paragraph 3 letter a), h) and i) of the Act (or by applying for it) for TGM WRI.

Furthermore, according to § 2, paragraph 2 of the Act, the notification contains data on the name, surname and date of birth, or other data from which it is possible to infer the identity of the non-excluded notifier. The notification does not have to contain these data if it was submitted by a person whose identity is known to the relevant person. The identity information of a non-excluded whistleblower is assumed to be true.

Completely anonymous notifications of illegal behavior are not considered to be notifications according to the law and are not investigated, they are only recorded in the record of data on notifications of illegal behavior received through INS TGM WRI.

Whistleblower protection and other persons excluded from retaliation

Neither the whistleblower nor the so-called other person excluded from retaliatory measures (i.e. a person according to § 4, paragraph 2 of the Act) may be subjected to retaliatory measures. The specification of the retaliatory measure is given in § 4, paragraph 1 of the Act. Waiver of the right to protection from retaliation is not considered.

If it is a notification that does not contain data on the name, surname and date of birth, or other data from which it is possible to deduce the identity of the notifier, the notifier and another person excluded from retaliatory measures are entitled to protection according to the law and other legal regulations only from the moment when their identity will be revealed to whoever can retaliate against them.

TGM WRI, as a person for whom a non-excluded whistleblower performs work or other similar activity, may not allow this whistleblower or another person excluded from retaliatory measures to be subjected to retaliatory measures.

According to Section 5 of the Act, a person who must not be subjected to retaliatory measures has the right to adequate compensation if the retaliatory measure has caused him non-pecuniary damage.

Protection under the law belongs to the whistleblower who:

• filed through INS TGM WRI,
• filed with the Ministry of Justice, or
• published, if the conditions according to § 7 paragraph 1 letter c) of the Act.

Protection against retaliatory measures according to the law also belongs to the person who submitted the notification to the competent public authority according to another legal regulation or a directly applicable regulation of the European Union.

Protection from retaliation does not belong to a person who made a report without having reasonable grounds to believe that it was based on true information (a so-called knowingly false report).

When investigating a notification of an illegal act, the competent person shall maintain confidentiality about the facts he or she has learned about in the course of performing his or her activities according to the law, even after the performance of that activity has ended, unless the law provides otherwise.

The relevant person will not provide information that could defeat or jeopardize the purpose of the notification. This obligation also applies to a third party who, in violation of § 21, paragraph 3 of the Act, obtains access to the record of data on notifications of illegal actions received through the INS TGM WRI and to documents related to these notifications, which otherwise belongs only to the relevant person.