Whistleblowing

The FNB regulates the relevant whistleblower protection procedures in its internal controlled documentation.
 

Responsible Person of the FNB

Mr. Jakub Málek, ev. no. ČAK 18503, attorney at law practicing at PEYTON legal advokátní kancelář s.r.o., ID No.: 282 55 283, with registered office at Sokolovská 668/136d, Karlín, 186 00 Prague 8, registered in the Commercial Register maintained by the Municipal Court in Prague under No. C 135675 - contacts are listed below - see section How can I make/submit a notification? 
 

Internal notification system of the FNB

Who can be a notifier?

A whistleblower is any natural person who makes a notification within the limits and in compliance with all the conditions of the Act, through the FNB's VOS, the external notification system maintained by the Ministry of Justice of the Czech Republic or by publication, or directly to the competent public authority competent under another legal regulation or directly applicable regulation of the European Union (e.g. police authority, public prosecutor, etc.). Such a whistleblower subsequently enjoys protection from retaliation.

The FNB, within the meaning of Section 9(2)(a) of the Act does not exclude receiving a notification from a person who does not perform work or other similar activity for it pursuant to Section 2(2)(a) of the Act. 3(a), (b), (h) or (i) of the Act (i.e. dependent work performed in a basic employment relationship, service, voluntary activity, professional practice, internship)."

What should the notification contain?

• name, surname and date of birth, or other information from which the identity of the notifier can be inferred (the notification need not contain this information if it is made by a person whose identity is known to the person concerned);
• information about possible unlawful conduct which has occurred, is occurring or is about to occur in relation to a person for whom the notifier, even indirectly, has performed or is performing work or other similar activity, or in relation to a person with whom the notifier has been or is in contact in connection with the performance of work or other similar activity, and which is within the scope of the Act (Art. 1), including identification of the persons against whom the notification is directed;
• any evidence and supporting information on the basis of which the notification is made. 

How can a notification be made/submitted?

In case of a written notification, it is advisable to fill in the form Notification of Possible Violation in FNB (download form from here), or the notification can be made in free form, but should always contain the minimum specified elements - see section What should the notification contain?

a) electronically:

• by sending an e-mail message to the e-mail address malek@plegal.cz.

b) in paper form (the notification thus submitted ideally in a sealed envelope should be marked visibly and legibly with the words "Notice - to Mgr. Jakub Malek, Attorney-at-Law - DO NOT OPEN")

• by mailing to. Jakub Málek, Attorney at Law, PEYTON legal advokátní kancelář s.r.o., Sokolovská 668/136d, Karlín, 186 00 Praha 8.

c) by telephone: at the following telephone number: +420 602 175 788. 

d) in person: by prior arrangement (if requested by the whistleblower, the competent person of the FNB is obliged to receive the notification in person within a reasonable period of time, but no later than 14 days from the date of the whistleblower's request) - place for personal submission: PEYTON legal advokátní kancelář s.r.o, Sokolovská 668/136d, Karlín, 186 00 Praha 8.

What are the deadlines for processing the notification?

• On receipt of the notification, the notifier will be notified of the receipt of the notification within a period of no more than 7 days from the date of its submission by the relevant person of the FNB; this does not apply if the notifier has expressly requested the relevant person of the FNB not to notify him/her of the receipt of the notification, or if it is clear that notification of the receipt of the notification would result in disclosure of the identity of the notifier to another person;
• the results of the investigation and assessment of the notification by the competent person of the FNB shall be notified to the notifier within 30 days of the notification (in cases of factual or legal complexity, this period may be extended by up to 30 days, but not more than twice);This does not apply if the notifier has expressly requested that the FNB's competent person not notify him or her of the receipt of the notification or if it is clear that notification of the assessment of the notification would disclose the identity of the notifier to another person;
• the date of receipt of the notification is the date on which the notification is delivered to the relevant person at FNB (postmarked on the envelope received by post); for e-mail notifications, the date of receipt of the notification is the date of dispatch indicated in the header of the e-mail addressed to the specified address & malek@plegal.cz to the relevant person at FNB; for oral, or, where applicable, oral, or postal notifications, the date of receipt of the notification is the date of dispatch.

How will the notification be handled?

• If the FNB Competent Person determines that the notification is not a notification under the Act when assessing the validity of the notification, the FNB Competent Person shall notify the notifier in writing without undue delay.
• If the notification is assessed as valid, the FNB Competent Person shall propose measures to the FNB Director to prevent or remedy the illegal situation. If the notification is lodged with the competent person of the FNB and the notifier does not perform work or other similar activity for the FNB, the competent person of the FNB shall propose corrective measures to the person for whom the notifier performs work or other similar activity, unless the nature of the matter so excludes. If the obliged entity does not accept the measure proposed by the competent person of the FNB, it shall take another appropriate measure to prevent or remedy the infringement; this shall not apply if the measure is proposed to a person other than the FNB. The obliged entity shall immediately inform the competent person of the FNB of the measure taken, who shall inform the whistleblower thereof in writing without undue delay; this shall not apply if the whistleblower has expressly requested the competent person of the FNB not to inform him of the receipt of the notification or if it is clear that the notification of the measure taken would reveal the identity of the whistleblower to another person.
• If the notification is not found to be justified, the competent person of the FNB shall inform the notifier in writing without undue delay that, on the basis of the facts stated in the notification and the circumstances known to him, he does not suspect that an infringement has been committed or that the notification is based on false information, and shall inform the notifier of his right to lodge a notification with a public authority.

How is the protection of personal data ensured?

The FNB (resp. The controller (FNB) processes the personal data of the notifiers and other persons concerned which are specified in the notification and which are necessary for the fulfilment of the legal obligations to which the controller (FNB) is subject, within the meaning of Article 6(1)(c) GDPR Regulation. All information, including the personal data of the whistleblower and other persons concerned, is/will be processed exclusively separately from other information within secure (encrypted) data files and data stores and primarily serves for the entire retention period only for the authorised competent person of FNB (= Mgr. Jakub Malek, CAK No. 18503, attorney at law practicing law at PEYTON legal advokátní kancelář s.r.o, ID No.: 282 55 283, with registered office at Sokolovská 668/136d, Karlín, 186 00 Prague 8, registered in the Commercial Register maintained by the Municipal Court in Prague under No. C 135675) within the framework of the investigation and registration of received notifications and to take measures to ensure the protection of the notifier against retaliation (the retention period is the strictly necessary period, at least 5 years from the date of receipt of the notification, after which the personal data will be anonymised or destroyed, unless otherwise provided by law).
 

External notification system

The Czech Ministry of Justice's external notification system can be found HERE (click).