A 1632
I assent.
(L.S.) GEORGE VELLA
President
18th December, 2021
ACT No. LXVII of 2021
AN ACT to amend the Protection of the Whistleblower Act, Cap.
527. 
BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and
consent of the House of Representatives, in this present Parlia ment
assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-
Short title and 
commencement.
Cap. 527.1. (1) The short title of this Act is the Protection of the
Whistleblower (Amendment) Act, 2021 and this Act shall be read and
construed as one with the Protect ion of the Whistleblower Act,
hereinafter referred to as "the principal Act".
(2) This Act shall come into force on such date or dates as the
Minister for Justice and Governan ce may by notice in the Gazette
establish, and different dates m ay be so established for differ ent
provisions of this Act.
Scope. (3) This Act transposes Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the
European Parliament and of the C ouncil of 23 October 2019 on th e
protection of persons who report breaches of Union law.
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
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Amendment of 
article 2 of the 
principal Act.2. Article 2 of the principal Act shall be amended by the
following:
(a) sub-article (1) thereof shall be amended by the
following:
(i) immediately after the definition "disciplined
force" thereof there shall b e added the following new
definition:
" "disclose" or "to disclose" means the oral or
written communication of information on improper
practice;";
(ii) paragraph (g) of the definition "employee"
thereof shall be substituted by the following new
paragraphs:
"(g) any candidate for employment only
where information concerning improper practices hasbeen acquired during the re cruitment process or other
pre-contractual negotiations;
(h) shareholders and persons belonging to the
administrative, management or supervisory body of
an undertaking, including non-executive members,and paid or unpaid trainees;";
(iii) immediately after the definition "External
Whistleblowing Disclosure Unit" thereof there shall be
added the following new definitions:
" "facilitator" means a person who assists a
reporting person in the reporting process in a work-
related context, and whose assistance should be
confidential;
"feedback" means the provision to the reporting
person of information on the action envisaged ortaken as follow-up and on the grounds for suchfollow-up;
"follow-up" means any action taken by the
recipient of a disclosure or any competent authority,to assess the accuracy of the allegations made in the
report and, where relevant, to address the improper
practice reported, including through actions such asan internal enquiry, an investigation, prosecution, an
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
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action for recovery of funds, or the closure of the
procedure;";
(iv) the definition "improper practice" t hereof shall
be substituted by the fo llowing new definition:
" "improper practice" means an action or a
series of actions whereby:
(a) a person has faile d, is failing or is
likely to fail to comply with any legal
obligation to which he is subject; or 
( b ) t h e  h e a l t h  o r  s a f e t y  o f  a n y
individual has been, is being or is likely to beendangered; or
(c) the environment has been, is being
or is likely to be damaged; or
(d) a corrupt practice has occurred or is
likely to occur or to have occurred; or
(e) a criminal offence has been
committed, is being committed or is likely to be
committed; or
(f) a miscarriage of justice has
occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur; or
(g) bribery has occurred or is likely to
occur or to have occurred; or
(h) a person has failed, is failing or is
likely to fail to comply with any legal
obligation on public procurement to which he issubject; or
(i) a person has faile d, is failing or is
likely to fail to comply with laws on financialservices, products and markets, and prevention
of money laundering and terrorist financing; or 
(j) a person has faile d, is failing or is
likely to fail to comply with product safety andcompliance law; or
(k) a person has failed, is failing or is
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
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likely to fail in ensuring transport safety; or
(l) a person has failed, is failing or is
likely to fail in ensuring radiation protection
and nuclear safety; or
(m) a person has failed, is failing or
likely to fail in ensuring a food and feed safety,animal health and welfare; or
(n) a person has failed, is failing or is
likely to fail to comply with any legal
obligation on consumer protection to which he
is subject; or
(o) a person has failed, is failing or is
likely to fail to comply with any legalobligation on protection of privacy andpersonal data, and security of network and
information systems to which he is subject; or
(p) a breach affecting the financial
interests of the Europ ean Union as referred to
in Article 325 of the Treaty on the Functioning
of the European Union (TFEU) and furtherspecified in relevant European Union measures
has occurred or is likely to occur or to have
occurred; or
(q) a breach relating to the internal
market, as referred to in Article 26(2) of theTreaty on the Functioning of the EuropeanUnion (TFEU), including breaches of European
Union competition and State aid rules, as well
as breaches relating to the internal market inrelation to acts which breach the rules of
corporate tax or to arrangements the purpose of
which is to obtain a tax advantage that defeatsthe object or purpose of the applicable
corporate tax law has occurred or is likely to
occur or to have occurred; or
(r) information tending to show any
matter falling within any one (1) of thepreceding paragraphs has been, is being or is
likely to be deliberately concealed: 
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
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Provided that, in the i nterpretation of this
definition due account shall be given to the de
minimis  rule so that very minor or trivial matters
shall not fall under the provisions of this Act;";
(v) immediately after the definition "improper
practice" thereof there shall be added the following new
definition:
"‘information on improper practices" means
information, including reasonable suspicions, about
actual or potential improper practices, which
occurred or are very likely to occur in theorganisation in which the reporting person works or
has worked or in another organisation with which the
reporting person is or was in contact through hiswork, and about attempts to c onceal such breaches;";
(vi) the definition "occupa tional detriment" thereof
shall be substituted by the following new definition:
" "occupational detrimen t", means any direct or
indirect act or omission which occurs in a workrelated context, which is prompted by internal orexternal disclosures or by public disclosure, and
which causes or may cause unjustified detriment to
the whistleblower and may include:
(a) suspension, lay-off, dismissal or
equivalent measures;
(b) demotion or withholding of
promotion;
(c) transfer of duties, change of
location of place of work, reduction in wages,change in working hours;
(d) withholding of training;
(e) a negative performance assessment
or employment reference;
(f) imposition or administering of any
disciplinary measure, reprimand or other
penalty, including a financial penalty;
(g) coercion, intimidation, harassment
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
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or ostracism;
(h) discrimination, disadvantageous or
unfair treatment;
(i) failure to convert a temporary
employment contract into a permanent one,
where the worker had legitimate expectationsthat he would be offered permanent
employment;
(j) failure to renew, or early
termination of, a temporary employment
contract;
(k) harm, including to the person's
reputation, particularly in social media, orfinancial loss, including loss of business andloss of income;
(l) blacklisting on the basis of a sector
or industry-wide informa l or formal agreement,
which may entail that this person will not, in
the future, find employment in the sector or
industry;
(m) early termination or cancellation of
a contract for go ods or services;
(n) cancellation of a licence or permit; 
(o) psychiatric or m edical referrals;
(p) being subjected to any disciplinary
action including for breach of ethics or
confidentiality;
(q) being subjected to a term or
condition of employment or retirement which is
altered or kept altered  to his disadvantage:
Provided that, this shall not apply where
the action is taken where the direct or indirect act oromission is administratively or commercially
justifiable for organizational reasons;";
(vii) immediately after the definition "person"
thereof there shall be added the following new definition:
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
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" "person concerned" means a natural or legal
person who is referred to  in the report or public
disclosure as a person to whom the improper practice
is attributed or with whom that person is
associated;";
(viii) immediately after the definition "public
administration" thereof, there shall be added the following
new definition:
""public disclosure" means a disclosure made
in accordance with Section 4 of Part III;"; and(ix) in the definition "whi stleblowing reports unit"
thereof, the wo rds "Disclosu re  Unit." shall be substituted
by the words "Disclosure Unit;" and immediately
thereafter there shall be added the following new
definition:
" "work-related context" means current or past
work activities in the public or private sector throughwhich, irrespective of the nature of those activities,
persons acquire informati on on improper practices
and within which those persons may suffer retaliation
if they reported such information.";
(b) immediately after sub-article (3) thereof there shall
be added the following new sub-articles:
"(4) Where specific rules on the reporting of
breaches are provided for in the sector-specific laws listedin the Third Schedule, those laws shall apply. Theprovisions of this Act shall be applicable to the extent that
a matter is not mandatorily regulated in those laws.
(5) This Act shall not affect the exercise by
workers of their rights to consult their representatives or
trade unions, and on protection against any unjustified
detrimental action prompted by such consultations as wellas on the autonomy of the social partners and their right to
enter into collective agreemen ts. This is without prejudice
to the level of protecti on granted by this Act.".
Amendment of 
article 4 of the 
principal Act.3. Immediately after sub-article (2 ) of article 4 of the principal
Act there shall be added the following new sub-articles:
"(3) The protection afforded to a whistleblower
shall, where relevant, be extended to:
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
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(a) facilitators;
(b) third persons who are connected with
the reporting persons and who could suffer
retaliation in a work-related context, such ascolleagues or relatives  of the reporting persons; 
(c) legal entities that the reporting
persons own, work for or a re otherwise connected
with in a work-related context; and
Cap. 9.(d) legal aid in criminal and in cross-
border civil proceedings in accordance with therelevant provisions of the Criminal Code and
Directive 2008/52/EC of th e European Parliament
and of the Council of 21 May 2008 on certainaspects of mediation in civil and commercial
matters and in accordance with national law, legal
aid in further proceedings and legal counselling orother legal counselling.
(4) The whistleblower shall have access to: 
(a) comprehensive and independent
information and advice, which is easily accessibleto the public and free of charge, on procedures
and remedies available, on protection against
retaliation, and on the rights of the personconcerned;
(b) effective assistance from competent
authorities before any relevant authority involved
in their protection against retaliation, including,
where provided for under national law,certification of the fact that they qualify for
protection under this Act; and
(c) legal aid in criminal and in cross-
border civil proceedings in accordance with
Directive (EU) 2016/1919 of the EuropeanParliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016
on legal aid for suspects  and accused persons in
criminal proceedings and fo r requested persons in
European arrest warrant proceedings and Directive2008/52/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 21 May 2008 on certain aspects ofmediation in civil and c ommercial matters and, in
accordance with national law, legal aid in furtherproceedings and legal counselling or other legalassistance.".
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
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Amendment of 
article 6 of the principal Act.4. Immediately after sub-article (4) of article 6 of the princip al
Act, there shall be added the following new sub-article:
Addition of new 
articles 6A and 
6B to the principal Act.5. Immediately after article 6 of t he principal Act, there shall b e
added the following new articles:
Amendment of 
article 7 of the 
principal Act.6. Sub-articles (4), (5) and (6) of a rticle 7 of the principal Act
shall be renumbe red as sub-articles (5), (6) and (7) respectively and
immediately after sub-article (3)  thereof there shall be added the
following new sub-article:
"(4) In proceedings referred to in sub-article (1), where
the whistleblower establishes tha t he made an internal, externa lCap. 589."(5) Every whistleblowing reporting officer or
whistleblowing reports Unit that receive information on
breaches that includes trade  secrets as defined under
article 2 of the Trade Secrets Act shall not use or
disclose those trade secrets for purposes going beyond
what is necessary for proper follow-up.".
"Processing of 
personal data.
Cap. 586.
S.L. 586.08.6A. Any processing of pers onal data carried out
pursuant to this Act, including the exchange or
transmission of personal data by the whistleblowingreporting officer or whistleb lowing reports Unit, shall
be carried out in accordance with Regulation (EU)2016/679 of the European Parliament and of theCouncil of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural
persons with regard to the processing of personal data
and on the free movement of such data, and repealing
Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection
Regulation), the Data Protection Act and the DataProtection (Processing of Personal Data by Competent
Authorities for the Purposes of the Prevention,
Investigation, Detection or Prosecution of Criminal
Offences or the Execution of Criminal Penalties)
Regulations:
Provided that, personal data which are
manifestly not relevant for the handling of a specific
report shall not be collec ted or, if accidentally
collected, shall be deleted without undue delay.
Disclosure of 
information on 
breaches under this 
Act.
Cap. 589.6B. Where a person discloses information on
breaches falling within the scope of this Act, and that
information includes trade secrets, and where that
person meets the conditions of this Act, such adisclosure shall be considered lawful under the
conditions of article 5(2) of the Trade Secrets Act.".
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
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or public disclosure and suffered a detriment, it shall be
presumed that the detriment was made in retaliation for the
report or the public disclosure. I n such cases, it shall be for  the
person who has taken the detrimen tal measure to prove that, tha t
measure was based on duly justified grounds.".
Amendment of 
article 9 of the principal Act.7. Sub-article (1) of article 9 of the principal Act shall be
substituted by the following:
"(1) A disclosure is a protected disclosure if the
whistleblower:
(a) had reasonable grounds to believe that the
information on breaches disclosed was true at the time of
the disclosure and that such information fell within the
scope of this Act; and 
(b) disclosed internally in accordance with article
12 or externally in accordance with article 16, or made apublic disclosure in accordance with article 18A.".
Substitution of 
article 10 of the principal Act.8. Article 10 of the principal Act shall be substituted by the
following:
Substitution of article 11 of the principal Act. 9. Article 11 of the principal Act shall be substituted by the
following:"Information 
protected by legal and medical 
professional 
privilege.Cap. 377.10. (1) Saving the provisions of article 6A(c) of
the Professional Secrecy Act, nothing in this Act
authorises a person to discl ose information protected by
legal and medical professional privilege and a
disclosure of such infor mation is not a protected
disclosure for the purposes of this Act.
(2) This Act shall not affect the application of laws
relating to the protection of  classified information, the
secrecy of judicial deliberations and rules on criminalprocedure.".
"
Anonymously 
made disclosures.11. (1) Anonymously made disclosures shall not
be a protected disclosure in terms of this Act.
(2) The whistleblowing reporting officer or the
whistleblowing reports Unit may receive and process
anonymous disclosures and may take that disclosure
into consideration in determining whether improperpractice has occurred.
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Substitution of 
article 12 of the 
principal Act.10. Article 12 of the principal Act, shall be substituted by the
following:(3) Despite the provisions of sub-article (1)
when following a public disclosure with information on
breaches that is made anonymously the whistleblower
is subsequently identified and suffers retaliation, that
disclosure shall still be a protected disclosure providedthat the disclosure satisfies the conditions established in
article 9(1).". 
"
Internal 
procedures for 
receiving and 
dealing with protected 
information.12. (1) Without prejudice to article 16 and
article 18A, every employer shall have in operation
internal procedures for r eceiving and dealing with
information about improper practice committed withinor by that organisation; such internal procedures shall at
least include the following:
(a) channels for receiving the reports in
writing or orally, or both. Oral reporting shall be
made possible by telephone or through other
voice messaging systems, and, upon request bythe reporting person, by means of a physical
meeting within a reasonable time frame. Such
channels shall be designed, established andoperated in a secure manne r that ensures that the
confidentiality of the identity of thewhistleblower and any th ird party mentioned in
the disclosure is protect ed, and prevents access
thereto by non-authorised staff members;
(b) the designation of a whistleblowing
reporting officer competent for following-up onthe reports which may be the same person ordepartment as the one tha t receives the protected
disclosure and which will maintaincommunication with the  whistleblower and,
where necessary, ask for further information fromand provide feedback to that whistleblower;
(c) diligent follow-up by the designated
person or department referred to in paragraph (b).
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Amendment of 
article 13 of the principal Act.11. Sub-article (1) of article 13 of the principal Act, shall be
substituted by the following new sub-article:
"(1) The whistleblowi ng reporting officer shall
acknowledge receipt of an internal disclosure within seven (7)
days of receipt and provide fee dback within a reasonable time,
not exceeding three (3) months from the acknowledgment of
receipt or, if no acknowledgment was sent to the reporting
person, three (3) months from t he expiry of the seven (7) day
period after the report was made.".
Amendment of 
article 16 of the principal Act.12. In sub-article (1) of article 16 of the principal Act,
immediately after the words "may be made to the whistleblowing
reports Unit of the authority as  provided in the First Schedule" there
shall be added the  word "directly".(2)  Clear and easily accessible information about
the existence of the internal procedures, and adequateinformation on how to use the procedures shall be
published widely within the organisation and shall berepublished at regular intervals. Every employer shallalso provide clear and easily accessible information
regarding the procedures for reporting externally to
competent authorities pursuant to article 15 and, whererelevant to institutions, bodies, offices or agencies of
the European Union.
(3) An internal disclosure  is a protected disclosure
made in accordance with the provisions of this Act if it
is made by an employee to a n employer substantially in
the manner established by internal proceduresestablished by the employer for receiving or dealing
with such disclosures.
(4) For purposes of Part III Section 2, "employer"
means the same as the meaning assigned to it in the
Second Schedule:
Provided that, this shall not apply to entities
falling within the scope of Part I(B) and II of the Third
Schedule:
Provided further that, organisation in the
private sector with fifty (50)  to two hundred and forty-
nine (249) workers may share resources as regards the
receipt of reports and any investigation that shall be
carried out. This shall be without prejudice to the
obligations imposed upon private sector organisations
by this Act to maintain confidentiality, to give
feedback, and to addres s the reported breach.".
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Amendment of 
article 17 of the 
principal Act.13. Article 17 of the principal A ct shall be amended by the
following:
(a) sub-article (1) thereof shall be substituted by
the following:
"(1) All authorities re ferred to in the First
Schedule shall:
(a) set up an independent and
autonomous whistlebl owing reports Unit,
for receiving and handling information on
breaches and which shall meet all the
following criteria:
(i) is designed, established
and operated in a manner that ensures
the completeness, integrity andconfidentiality of the information and
prevents access thereto by non-
authorised staff members of theauthority;
(ii) enables the durable
storage of information in accordance
with article 21A to allow further
investigations to be carried out;
(b) promptly, and in any event
within seven (7) days of receipt of the
external disclosure, acknowledge that
receipt unless the whistleblower explicitly
requested otherwise or the whistleblowingreports Unit reasonably believes that
acknowledging receipt of the disclosure
shall jeopardise the protection of thereporting person’s identity;
(c) diligently follow up on external
disclosures;
(d) provide feedback to the
whistleblower within a reasonable timeframe not exceeding thr ee (3) months, or six
(6) months in duly justified cases;
(e) communicate to the
whistleblower the final outcome of
investigations triggered by the report, in
accordance with procedures provided forunder national law;
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(f) transmit in due time the
information contained in the disclosures to
competent institutions, bodies, offices or
agencies of the European Union, as
appropriate, for further investigation, whereprovided for under law.";
(b) sub-article (2) thereof shall be renumbered as
sub-article (10) thereof a nd immediately after sub-
article (1) thereof, there shall be added the followingnew sub-articles:
"(2) The whistleblowing reports Unit shall
enable external disclosures in writing and orally.
Oral disclosures shall be possible by telephone or
through other voice messaging systems and, uponrequest by the whistleblower, by means of a
physical meeting within a r easonable time-frame.
(3) The whistleblowing reports Unit shall
ensure that, where an external disclosure is
received through channels other than thereporting channels referre d to in sub-articles (1)
and (2) or by staff members other than thoseresponsible for handling reports, the staffmembers who receive it are prohibited from
disclosing any information that may identify the
whistleblower or the person concerned, and thatthey promptly forward the report without
modification to the staff members responsible for
handling reports.
(4) The whistleblowing reports Unit shall
designate staff members responsible for handlingreports, and in particular for:
(a) providing any interested person
with information on the procedures for
reporting;
(b) receiving and following up on
external disclosures;
(c) maintaining contact with the
whistleblower for the purpose of providing
feedback and requesti ng further information
where necessary.
(5) The staff members referred to in sub-
article (4) shall receive s pecific training for the
purposes of handling reports:
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(a) providing any interested person
with information on the procedures for
reporting;
(b) receiving and following up on
external disclosures;
(c) maintaining contact with the
whistleblower for the purpose of providing
feedback and requesting further information
where necessary.
(6) The whistleblowing reports Unit shall
publish on their websites in a separate, easilyidentifiable and accessible section at least the
following information:
(a) the conditions for qualifying for
protection under this Act;
(b) the contact details for the
whistleblowing reports Unit as provided forunder sub-article (1), in particular the
electronic and postal addresses, and thephone numbers for such channels,indicating whether the phone conversations
are recorded;
(c) the procedures applicable to the
reporting of breaches, including the manner
in which the competent authority mayrequest the whistleblower to clarify the
information reported or to provide
additional information, the time frame forproviding feedback and the type and content
of such feedback;
S.L. 586.08.(d) the confidentiality regime
applicable to reports, and in particular the
information in relation to the processing ofpersonal data in accordance with article 6A,
Articles 5 and 13 of Regulation (EU) 2016/
679 of the European Parliament and of theCouncil of 27 April 2016 on the protection
of natural persons with regard to the
processing of personal data and on the freemovement of such data, and repealing
Directive 95/46/EC (General Data
Protection Regulation), regulation 13 of theData Protection (Processing of Personal
Data by Competent Authorities for the
Purposes of the Prevention, Investigation, 
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Detection or Prosecution of Criminal
Offences or the Execution of Criminal
Penalties) Regulati ons and Article 15 of
Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the EuropeanParliament and of the Council of 23 October2018 on the protection of natural persons
with regard to the processing of personal
data by the Union institutions, bodies,offices and agencies and on the free
movement of such data, and repealing
Regulation (EC) No. 45/2001 and Decision
No. 1247/2002/EC, as applicable;
(e) the nature of the follow-up that
shall be given to reports; 
(f) the remedies and procedures for
protection against retaliation and the
availability of confidential advice forpersons contemplating reporting;
(g) a statement clearly explaining
the conditions under which persons
disclosing to the competent authority are
protected from incurring liability for abreach of confidentiality pursuant to article
4(1); and
(h) contact details of the
information centre or of the single
independent administrative authority asprovided for in article 4(4) where
applicable.
(7) The whistleblowing reports Units
shall review their pro cedures for receiving
disclosures, and their follow-up, regularly, and at
least once every three (3) years. In reviewing such
procedures, competent authorities shall take
account of their experience as well as that of otherwhistleblowing reports Unit and adapt their
procedures accordingly.
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
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Addition of new 
Section 4 and 
new article 18A to the principal 
Act.14. The new Section 4 and new article 18A to the principal Act,
shall be added as follows:
(a) in the first, second and third columns of the
Arrangement of Act thereof, immediately after the words
"Section 3 External Disclosures  15-18" there shall be added
a fresh line with the words "Section 4 Public Disclosures
18A"; and
(b) immediately after article 18 thereof there shall be
added the new heading and new article as follows:
"SECTION 4
PUBLIC DISCLOSURES
18A.  (1) Except as provided in this Part, a public
disclosure shall only be prot ected if an internal disclosure
in accordance with Section 2 of this Part and an external
disclosure in accordance with Section 3 of this Part has
already been made, but no appropriate action was taken inresponse to the report within t he time-frames referred to in
article 13(1) and article 17(1)(b).
A public disclosure shall be as a protected disclosure
under this Act if any one (1) of the following conditions
are fulfilled:
The whistleblower has reasonable grounds to believe
that:(8) The whistleblowing reports Units may
close procedures regar ding repetitive reports
which do not contain any meaningful newinformation on improper practice compared to a
past report in respect of which the relevantprocedures were concluded, unless new legal or
factual circumstances just ify a different follow-
up. In such a case, the whistleblowing reports
Units shall notify the reporting person of their
decision and the reasons thereof.
(9) In the event of high inflows of reports,
w h i s t l e b l o w i n g  r e p o r t s  U n i t s  m a y  d e a l  w i t hreports of serious breaches or breaches of
essential provisions falling within the scope of
this Act as a matter of priority, without prejudiceto the time frame as set out in paragraph (d) of
sub-article (1).".
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
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(a) the breach may constitute an imminent or
manifest danger to the public interest, such as when
there is an emergency situation or a risk ofirreversible damage; or
(b) in the case of external reporting, there is a
risk of retaliation or there is a low prospect of thebreach being effectively addressed, due to the
particular circumstances of the case, such as those
where evidence may be concealed or destroyed or
where an authority may be  in collusion with the
perpetrator of the breach or involved in the breach.
(2) This article shall not apply to cases where a
person directly discloses information to the press pursuant
to specific national law establishing a system of protectionrelating to freedom of expression and information.".
Addition of new 
article 21A to 
the principal Act.15. Immediately after article 21 of the principal Act, there shall
be added the following new article:
"Shall keep 
records of every 
report received.21A. (1) Whistleblowing reports Unit and the
whistleblowing reporting officers shall keep records of
every report received, in compliance with theconfidentiality requirements provided for in article 6:
Provided that, reports shall be stored for no
longer than it is necessary and proportionate in order to
comply with the requirements imposed by this Act, or
other requirements imposed by law.
(2) Where a recorded telephone line or another
recorded voice messaging syst em is used for disclosing,
subject to the consent of the whistleblower,
whistleblowing reports Unit and whistleblowing
reporting officers shall have the right to document the
oral reporting in one (1) of the following ways: 
(a) by making a recording of the
conversation in a durable and retrievable form; or 
(b) through a complete and accurate
transcript of the conversation prepared by the
staff members responsible  for handling the report.
Whistleblowing reports Unit and whistleblowing
reporting officers shall offer the whistleblower
the opportunity to check, rectify and agree thetranscript of the call by signing it.
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
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Amendment of 
the Second 
Schedule to the 
principal Act.16. Item (2) of the Second Schedule to the principal Act shall be
substituted by the following new item: 
"(2) Any organisation within t he private sector with fifty
(50) or more workers or where following an appropriate risk
assessment taking into account the  nature of the activities of the
organisation and the ensuing level of risk for, in particular theenvironment and public health may  require an organisation in th e
private sector with fewer than fifty (50) workers to establish an
internal disclosure channel and procedure in accordance withSection 2 of Part III.".(3) Where an unrecorded t elephone line or another
unrecorded voice messaging system is used fordisclosing, whistleblow ing reports Units and
whistleblowing reporting office rs shall have the right to
document the oral disclosure in the form of accurateminutes of the conversation written by the staff member
responsible for handling the disclosure. Thewhistleblowing reports Unit and whistleblowingreporting officer shall of fer the whistleblower the
opportunity to check, rectify and agree the minutes ofthe conversation by signing them.
(4) Where a person requests a meeting with the
whistleblowing reports Unit and whistleblowing
reporting officers for disclosing purposes pursuant to
article 12(1)(a) and artic le 17(2), whistleblowing
reports Unit and whistleblowing reporting office shall
ensure, subject to the consent of the whistleblower, that
complete and accurate records of the meeting are keptin a durable and retrievable form. The whistleblowing
reports Unit and whistleblowing reporting officers shall
have the right to document the meeting in one of thefollowing ways:
(a) by making a recording of the
conversation in a durable and retrievable form; or
(b) through accurate minutes of the
meeting prepared by the staff members
responsible for handling the report:
Provided that, whistleblowing reports
Units and whistleblowing reporting officers shall
offer the whistleblower the opportunity to check,rectify and agree the minutes of the meeting by
signing them.".
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
A 1651
Addition of new 
Third Schedule 
to the principal Act.17. Immediately after the Second Schedule to the principal Act,
there shall be added the  following new Schedule:
"Third Schedule 
[Articles 2 and 12]
The Annex of Commission Directive (EU) 2019/1937  sh al l b e
applicable in its entirety as the Third Schedule to this Act.".
Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 530 of the
14th December, 2021.
ANĠLU FARRUGIA
Speaker
RAYMOND SCICLUNA
Clerk of the House of Representatives
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
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VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA