Madrid, July 4, 2023.- This morning the public hearing of the appeal against a sentence issued by the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community that annulled the protection of a whistleblower of corruption made by the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency was held in the Third Chamber of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court.
It is the first time in Spain that the protection of a whistleblower reaches the Supreme Court, a topic of maximum topicality after the recent approval of Law 2/2023 of February 20 regulating the protection of whistleblowers of corruption that meant the transposition into the Spanish legal system of the European Directive 1937/2019 of October 23, protection of persons reporting breaches of Union law.
In the public hearing, two cassational issues have been dealt with that have been defended by the Agency by its Lawyer, Juan Vega. The first concerned whether Community directives oblige public authorities to fulfil their mandate before the deadline for transposition expires, and in particular from the time of their entry into force.
And the second question concerned whether the protection of the complainant must be offered independently of the channel through which the complaint is made, that is to say, regardless of whether it is an internal, external or judicial reporting channel, since the Directive should have been applied and respected since it was in force by interpreting it in accordance with the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. the European Union.
The director of the Agency, Joan Llinares, has attended the public hearing, who has declared at the end of this, that “today is an important day since what the Supreme Court rules on the issues that have been seen today will establish jurisprudence that will affect the protection of whistleblowers of corruption and the fight against corruption itself. “
“The Valencian Parliament was 3 years ahead of the European Directive and 7 years ahead of the State Law with the approval of Law 11/2016 creating the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency as the competent regional authority in the prevention and fight against corruption,” added Llinares.
Given the interest and relevance of the issue that this appeal entailed, Safira Cantos, director of the Hay Derecho Foundation who is a member of the Agency’s Participation Council and staff of the Antifrau Office of Catalonia, has come to public hearing, among others.
Chronology
On September 11, 2018, the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency issued a Resolution granting the Protection Statute to a whistleblower of corruption based on a complaint filed with a Court of Instruction for a crime allegedly committed by the mayor of the City Council of Los Montesinos (Alicante) related to the environment.
On November 26, 2019, the European Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of persons reporting breaches of Union law is published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), which enters into force on December 17, 2019.
On November 16, 2021, Sentence number 574 is issued by the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community that revokes the administrative act.
On December 17, 2021, the deadline for transposition into Spanish law of the European Directive expires.
On February 20, 2023, Law 2/2023 regulating the protection of persons reporting corruption was approved, transposing the European Directive into Spanish law.
The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency launched the Protection Statute more than 7 years ago, being the first authority in Spain to have this protection. At the end of 2017 the Agency protected a whistleblower for the first time and at the moment there are 31 natural persons and 1 legal person (company) that are protected, which join the several hundred that over the years have received legal advice from the Agency.
