The European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter referred to as “ECHR”) has just granted the status of whistleblower to a former employee of PwC, in Luxemburg, who was at the origin of public revelations on certain tax practices, known as “Luxleaks”.
Although the facts of this decision predate the implementation of the European Union (hereinafter referred to as the “EU”) framework on the subject, the ECHR ruling (1.) gives an opportunity to look into the European whistleblowing and whistleblower protection system, which has recently been strengthened (2.), and its French transposition (3.).
The ECHR considers that the conviction of a whistleblower can constitute a breach by a State of the freedom of speech protected under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
This is what the ECHR has just recalled in its “Halet v. Luxemburg” decision,[1] rendered on February 14, 2023, named after this PwC employee in Luxemburg, who had transmitted to a journalist confidential documents relating to advance tax rulings (“ATAs”), which had been used in the context of a television program and put online by an international consortium of journalists to form what the press called the “LuxLeaks”. This employee was dismissed and convicted for breach of professional secrecy to a fine of 1000 euros.
In its ruling, the Court, in order to determine whether the applicant could be recognized as a whistleblower, applied the six criteria identified in its previous case...
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