Preparing an authority report

1. Regulatory Concept & Core Standards

This video's topic is preparing an authority report. By the end, you should be able to provide concrete facts and necessary data. We will connect the information available, the criterion guiding the decision and the action that must be recorded. Follow the case and compare your answer with the proposed response. The Prosecutor’s Office is the competent authority under the Whistleblower Protection Act. Investigation of particular breaches may belong elsewhere. Distinguish formal reporting, advice and an employer’s technical channel.

Article 4 allows the approved form or free-form reporting stating that the Act is used. Factual circumstances and specified identity information are required.

Apply the following rule: The Prosecutor’s Office must identify the person to grant formal whistleblower status. However, Article 3(6) provides protection, incentive and assistance measures where an initially anonymous reporter is identified and protection from adverse effects is necessary. Confidentiality covers indirect identification too. Article 9 limits disclosure and provides prior-information requirements and exceptions. Anonymity is not an absolute promise that nobody can identify a person.

2. Practical Implementation & Procedure

Describe conduct, work connection and sources. Identify earlier reports and replies, attach relevant lawfully held material and verify recipients. Before moving on, turn this procedure into a sequence you could explain to a colleague. Identify the first check, the action that depends on its outcome and the record that allows the decision to be reconstructed. Follow the sequence on screen and identify the point where an error would change the result.

At each step, compare the information available with what is still needed for the decision. Arrange continuity when the designated worker is absent. A substitute receives only the information needed for the task, and their actions must remain verifiable.

Mark an unanswered question as a fact to verify. Identify who could confirm it and what access they actually need. A correct exercise choice alone does not show that the reasoning is understood. If the answer depends on an additional fact, state that condition explicitly.

For the workplace task, name the person who can approve the change and the person who will check that it works. Produce a concrete verifiable action, rather than only a promise to follow rules. Check effects on access rights and user information. Record questions that your organisation still needs to resolve.

3. Case Study & Compliance Action

A former worker prepares free text stating the Act, facts, relationship and contact, rather than merely asking for everything to be investigated. Now read the case carefully. Separate established facts from information you would still need to confirm. Do not add motives or events that have not been described. This distinction matters when choosing a response proportionate to the information available.

The exercise is as follows: Is the approved form always compulsory? Choose an answer and write one sentence explaining it. During the pause, compare your choice with the criteria we have just considered. Also think about the material you would retain to explain the decision later.

No. The Act also permits free-form reports with required information and reference to the Act. Distinguish format from content sufficiency.

One mistake to avoid is: rejecting free-form reports solely for appearance.

Now apply the national rule to a second decision. An initially anonymous reporter is later identified and faces pressure. Is protection impossible?

That conclusion is unjustified. Article 3(6) provides measures after an initially anonymous reporter is identified where protection against adverse effects is necessary. The Prosecutor’s Office decides formal status and needs identity for that purpose. The organisation should restrict recipients and assess pressure rather than reject the case automatically because it was initially anonymous.