The Hungarian Ministry of Justice and Police has recently released a bill on Public Interest Disclosure (the Bill) for public consultation purposes. The Bill is intended to replace the Fair Process Act of 2009 authorizing the processing of personal data for whistle-blowing procedures for public bodies as well as for private entities in Hungary.

In relation to internal-whistleblowing systems of private entities,

• the Bill would cover reports / disclosures made by vendors, employees as well as by any other third persons (including individuals and legal entities);

• the Bill does not limit reportable matters to public interest disclosure, but it would permit the reporting ethical breaches, as well as administrative offences to the employer;

•  it would be mandatory for operators of whistleblowing systems to engage a trust counsel (a Hungarian qualified attorney) to whom reports could be made by whistle-blowers. The counsel shall keep record on the report and provide a copy to the whistle-blower and it could not disclose the identity of the whistle-blower to the client (the operator of the system) unless the whistle-blower consents to same. The counsel may also participate in the investigation of the complaint and it shall inform the whistle-blower on its result.

• the Bill would also modify the Labour Code and stipulate that public interest disclosure within the whistleblowing-system cannot be considered as a breach of the rights / economic interests of the employer. The Bill also prohibits retaliation and the burden of proof is shifted on the employer before court that it did not retaliate against the whistle-blower.

The Bill is silent regarding the investigation of the complaints, relevant deadlines, applicable legal remedies, outsourcing and data transfer issues, as well as regarding the future operation of exiting whistleblowing hotlines. Further, the Bill does not specify – in contrast to the Fair Process Act – whether the investigation of the complaint would be a must for the employer. According to the present language of the Bill, operators of whistleblowing hotlines would be required to implement significant changes into their systems and engage a local attorney if they wish to outsource the operation of such hotlines.

The Bill is scheduled to enter into force by the 1 January 2014 and we will report on any further developments.