Bill No. 987 relating to the protection of whistleblowers in the labour relations context

Bill no. 987 on the protection of whistleblowers in in the labour relations context, tabled in Public Session on 3 April 2019 and referred to the Legislation Committee, is the result of the transformation of draft law no. 229.

On 27 March 2025, the Chairman of the Parliament referred the Bill to the Personal Data Protection Authority (APDP) for an opinion. See Deliberation no. 2025-8 of 9 April 2025 (JDM no. 8746 of 9 May 2025).

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Presentation

Bill no. 987 aims to establish a general framework for the protection of whistleblowers in both the public and private sectors.

It is "inspired by the legislation of neighbouring countries, as well as international conventions" and "is in line with the prevention of crimes and offences, the protection of the environment, the reinforcement of health safety, the fight against harassment and violence in the workplace, money laundering and corruption". (Explanatory Memorandum, pp. 2-4)

The Explanatory Memorandum points out that, while certain recent domestic provisions already protect authors of reports in specific contexts, no text to date enshrines a general status for whistleblowers.

Article 31 of Law no. 1. 362 of 3 August 2009, as amended, offers only limited sectoral protection for internal alerts in the context of the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and corruption, with the possibility, if no action is taken within a reasonable time, of forwarding the alert to the department exercising the supervisory function of the Monegasque Financial Security Authority (AMSF) but without recognition of the possibility of "revealing to the public - as a last resort - the information reported, in the event of inaction by the company's internal bodies". (Explanatory memorandum, p. 4).

As far as the public sector is concerned, Bill no. 987 "is the counterpart to the general obligation on civil servants, public officials or public officers to report to the hierarchical or judicial authorities any fact, practice, act or behaviour that may constitute a crime or offence of which they may become aware in the performance of their duties" (Explanatory Memorandum, p. 5, citing Article 61 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 6 of Ministerial Order no. 2011-468 of 29 August 2011 implementing Sovereign Order no. 3.413 of 29 August 2011 on various measures relating to relations between the Administration and the constituent, and Article 74 of the Criminal Code).

The provisions of Bill no. 987 are based on Law no. 1.457 of 12 December 2017 on harassment and violence at work, which constitutes "a basic normative foundation, applicable to both the private and public sectors" (Explanatory memorandum, p. 46) (designation of a referent, internal procedure, protection of the employee, probationary logic, etc.).

In the European context, Bill no. 987 is fully in line with:

• Recommendation CM/Rec(2014)7 adopted on 30 April 2014 by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which calls on Member States to enshrine a normative framework enabling individuals to make public interest whistleblowing reports in a professional context, without fear of "retaliation of any form, whether directly or indirectly, by their employer and by persons working for or acting on behalf of the employer. Forms of such retaliation might form, whether directly or indirectly, by their employer and by persons working for or acting on behalf of the employer. Forms of such retaliation might include dismissal, suspension, demotion, loss of promotion opportunities, punitive transfers and reductions in or deductions of wages, harassment or other punitive or discriminatory treatment."
• the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (Article 10 ECHR on freedom of expression) on the protection of disclosures of serious breaches of public or private obligations. For example: Case of Guja v. Moldova, 12 February 2008, Appl. no. 14277/04 (dismissal of an official of the public prosecutor's office for having leaked to the press information indicating apparent interference by the Government in the administration of criminal justice); Case of Heinisch v. Germany, 21 July 2011, Appl. no. 28274/08 (dismissal of a nurse for lodging a criminal complaint alleging shortcomings in the care provided by a private employer); Case of Bucur and Toma v. Romania, 8 January 2013, Appl. no. 0238/02 (criminal conviction for publicising irregularities concerning secret telephone tapping).

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SUMMARY

Creation of whistleblower status, covering the public and private sectors, as follows:

• Employees, civil servants and contractual agents of the State and the Commune, trainees, whose employer is located in Monaco;
• Reporting (to the employer, or competent judicial or administrative authority) or disclosure (to the public of information which has been reported in vain), in good faith, in a disinterested manner, in the belief that the information is authentic in the forms and conditions provided for by law, of any information, of which the employee has become aware in the course of his duties, relating to the occurrence of: 1. a crime or misdemeanour ("délit"), 2. a serious threat or harm to the public interest in the health or environmental field.
• Limitations: exclusion of information the reporting or disclosure of which would infringe national security confidentiality, medical confidentiality or the confidentiality of relations between a lawyer and his client; of which the whistleblower had no personal knowledge, and which he could not legitimately consider to be accurate.
• Guarantees against retaliation by management; in the event of a dispute, the burden of proof rests with the employer.
• Whistleblowing procedures ("référent" the person responsible for receiving the alert, information, internal procedures, reporting, bringing information to the attention of the judicial authorities).
• Criminal provisions (amendment of articles 307 and 308-1 of the Criminal Code, excluding their application to whistleblowers).

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Structure of Bill no. 987 (before Committee stage)

CHAPTER I – GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1 – Persons eligible for the whistleblower qualification

Article 2 – Information excluded from reporting

Article 3 – Protection against retaliation

CHAPTER II – REPORTING PROCEDURES

Article 5 – Designation of a referent for the purpose of collecting the report

Article 6 – Reporting to the judiciary

Article 7 – Information on the follow-up of the report

Article 8 – Revelation to the public in the absence of information on the follow-up of the report

Article 9 – Procedures to be put in place by the employers (ministerial decree of application)

CHAPTER III – CRIMINAL PROVISIONS

Article 10 – Applicable penalty for making or attempting to obstruct the transmission of a report

Article 11 – Applicable penalty for breach of confidentiality of the procedures established under Article 9

Article 12 – Amendment of Article 307 of the Criminal Code (false accusation)

Article 13 – Amendment of Article 398-1 bis of the Criminal Code (disclosure of a secret)

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