Disclosing Professional Secrecy: Duty Or Crime?

When it comes to professional secrecy, the law provides contradictory duties. On the one hand, reporting employees – whistleblowers – are obliged to disclose data or information related to the reported facts¹. On the other hand, if the reporting persons, whether public officers or private employees, disclose work-related secrets or information not destined for the public, they could be liable for a criminal offence.

In the first scenario, according to the Draft Law on Protection of Whistleblowers transposing Directive (EU) 2019/1937 (the "Draft Law"), while the reporting as such is left at the discretion or goodwill of whistleblowers, once they reveal information on breaches that have arisen in a professional context, they must give additional information related to the reported facts based on the principle of responsibility.