German Whistleblower Protection Act Finally Coming

The last draft of a Whistleblower Protection Act failed in February 2023 due to the lack of approval of the Federal Council. In response, the Mediation Committee was called to mediate between the Federal Council and the Federal Parliament. A compromise was found and the Federal Parliament passed a resulting draft on 11 May 2023 which was approved by the Federal Council the next day. It will enter into force on 2 July 2023.

The Act aims to enable the detection of a broad range of violations and goes beyond what is required by the EU Directive (violations of various European legal acts, e.g. provisions regarding anti-money laundering, environmental protection, animal protection, consumer protection, and data protection). In addition to criminal offences, it covers statutory offenses, if the violated provisions concern the protection of life, body or health or the protection of employee rights or the rights of their representative bodies. These provisions are e.g.