Whistleblower protection and the fight against corruption

Since its establishment, the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter referred to as the “Supreme Administrative Court”) together with the Chancellery of the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter referred to as the “Chancellery”) has considered one of its priorities to regulate the agenda of anti-social activities. This was done by means of an internal governing act, Directive No 3/2021 on the handling of reports of anti-social activities at the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic and the Chancellery of the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic, which entered into force and came into effect immediately on 1 August 2021 and was also published on the website on that date. In accordance with the aforementioned Directive and Act No. 54/2019 Coll. on the Protection of Whistleblowers and on amendments to certain acts, as amended, the President of the Supreme Administrative Court and the Chancellor appointed a person responsible for receiving, recording, and processing reports of anti-social activities, which also includes corruption, effective as of August 1, 2021.

Although neither the Supreme Administrative Court nor the Chancellery was obliged by Government of the Slovak Republic Resolutions No. 585 of 12 December 2018 and No. 426 of 4 September 2019 to adopt the Anti-Corruption Policy of the Slovak Republic for the years 2019 – 2023 or the National Anti-Corruption Programme of the Slovak Republic, being aware of the importance and significance of the anti-corruption agenda, they started to implement gradual steps towards the adoption of the anti-corruption policy in the second half of 2024 on their own initiative.

As part of these efforts, an anti-corruption unit has been established, which has two permanent members who are also responsible for handling reports of anti-social activity. In addition to the Anti-Corruption Unit, an Anti-Corruption Coordinator has been appointed with effect from 1st December 2024. In particular, the anti-corruption coordinator shall draw up a summary report once a year on the result of the assessment and evaluation of corruption risks, a draft anti-corruption programme and its update, as well as monitor corruption risks and the measures taken to prevent them.

The Supreme Administrative Court, together with the Chancellery, considers the adoption of anti-corruption measures to be essential to emphasise the protection of the public interest and the rejection of corrupt behaviour at all organisational levels. At the same time, they believe that this initiative is capable of improving anti-corruption prevention, specifically to prevent new opportunities for corrupt behaviour, to raise awareness of corruption, or to improve the conditions for reporting suspicions of corruption and the protection of whistleblowers.

Responsible persons / Permanent members of the Anti-Corruption Unit:

Mgr. Dominik Fabian, PhD., Mgr. Júlia Zacharidesová

Anti-Corruption Coordinator:

Mgr. Júlia Zacharidesová