Transparency International Macedonia within the project “Advocacy on implementation of whistleblowing legislation in the Republic of North Macedonia” on October 7, 2022 organized a workshop on the topic “The role of persons responsible for internal reporting for efficient implementation of the Law on Protection of Whistleblowers”. Speakers at this workshop were Ms. Slagjana Taseva, president of Transparency International- Macedonia, Ms. Biljana Ivanovska, president of the State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption and Ms. Irena Popovska, authorized person for internal and external reporting in the State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption of Corruption.
Although more of the institutions have established a system of protected internal reporting, they have not fulfilled the obligation for submission of a report to the State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (SCPC) due to the fact that they have not received reports from whistleblowers, shows the experiences from the implementation of the Law on the protection of whistleblowers presented at today’s workshop of Transparency International- Macedonia and SCPC. The analysis of the received semi-annual reports shows that there is a slight improvement in the implementation of the Law regarding protected internal reporting. The reports submitted through the internal reporting channel within the institutions shows that citizens are encouraged to use this possibility to report illegalities or irregularities in the conduct of the institutions.
The president of Transparency International – Macedonia, Ms. Slagjana Taseva, pointed out the lack of a system that would provide support for whistleblowers and the people who receive reports. – We have a law, but we don’t have a system to protect whistleblowers. We have identified only one case from the beginning to an end. We have to see what the problem is, should an inspection or greater sanctions be included, is the answer in amending of the law, I don’t think so, said Ms. Taseva, who recommended better organization. According to Ms. Biljana Ivanovska, president of the State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, the law revives and it is encouraging that increased number of people are present in the networking within the protection system. – The fact is that people need to be encouraged, to be sure that they are safe and will not suffer consequences, these are the main reasons to encourage them to report, she said. Ivanovska informed that since last year, software has been developed that allows whistleblowers to report irregularities by leaving their ID number without revealing their identity.
