Whistle Blowing and the Law

Abstract

This paper discusses the increasing interest in whistleblower legislation to advance the anticorruption project. The author identifies the several references to whistleblower protection in international anticorruption treaties and the introduction of whistleblower protection in several countries. In particular, the author discusses the Protected Disclosures Act in Jamaica and its similarly to the UK Protected Disclosures Act. The paper argues that the character of whistleblower legislation is changing and, following the UK model, it is more an instrument for protecting employees from unfair treatment that an instrument to tackle corruption.

Keywords: whistleblower, whistle blower, legislation, corruption, anticorruption, anti-corruption, treaties, international, agreement, protected disclosures, protected disclosure, UK, Jamaica, Caribbean

JEL Classification: D63, D73, D74, H11, J53, J58, J71, J78, J79, K10, K20, K31, K42