Legally compliant whistleblowing in your company - country update in Italy

The transposition of Directive 2019/1937 on whistleblowing in the Italian legal system got underway last year with Act 127/2022, which authorised the government to issue the legislative regulations required for transposition.

Subsequently, on 09.03.2023, the Council of Ministers has approved the legislative decree for transposition.

The national provisions will definitively enter into force within four months after their publication, i.e. presumably in August of 2023. Currently, the transposition amounts to the rules applicable to whistleblowing being comprehensively regulated, with special attention being paid to the whistleblower’s protection in order to encourage the active use of the whistleblowing channels. The statutory regulation is also expected to provide for the introduction of fines imposed on enterprises that do not pursue the notifications received. Regardless of the details of the final draft, the enterprises will certainly have to design the internal procedures and organisation in such a way that an effective and timely response to received notifications is guaranteed.

Autor: Tommaso Olivieri