Introduction: In the history of the rule of law in the United States, there is a bill called the "Whistleblower Protection Act". It is a common federal law in the United States. It mainly protects "whistleblowers" and promotes public interest litigation in the United States to a certain extent. The development of litigation on behalf of the people on the grounds of safeguarding public interests has made a positive contribution to the rule of law in promoting public supervision and ensuring the public's right to know.
Because of the foresight and asymmetry of information, "whistleblowers" are often played by insiders who have access to inside information. This is a kind of dedication mechanism that is equivalent to courageous action, but it only helps a wider group of people. , it was a righteous act.
"Whistleblower" originated from the British police's action of blowing a whistle when they discovered a criminal case to attract the attention of their colleagues and the public. By extension, "whistleblower" is now generally used to refer to a person who draws the public's attention to the shortcomings of a government or enterprise and takes some corrective action. Typically, such misconduct violates laws, rules or regulations and directly threatens the public interest.
Regarding the "whistleblower" protection system, the current legal system of the United States has formulated the "Whistleblower Protection Act", which has clear provisions on protecting the public's right to know and protecting the personal safety of whistleblowers and their families. , the "Whistleblower" Protection Act in the United States was not achieved overnight, but was gradually developed and improved. Let's take a look at its formation and development, and explore its legal value.
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The background and development history of the "Whistleblower Protection Act" in the United States. So far, a complete whistleblower protection mechanism has been established.
What is the "Whistleblower Protection Act"?
This is a protection law enacted and named by the United States in 1989. The "whistleblower" bill can encourage citizens to participate in social supervision through legal forms and promote the fair exercise of the public's right to report. This bill is common in the federal government. It not only encourages every government employee to serve the public From the perspective of interests and responsibility, stand up and report and contribute to social justice. It also stipulates in detail the specific mechanism for whistleblowers to be protected. It is a law that provides all-round and multi-angle protection for "whistleblowers".
Why does the United States enact such a bill?
In fact, as early as 1778, seven months after the United States issued the Declaration of Independence, the United States passed the world's first law to protect whistleblowers. In 1863, the United States introduced the False Claims Act to encourage whistleblowing with heavy payments. The purpose of these bills is to guide internal reporting and supervision.
After the famous Watergate incident occurred, a wave of legislative protection for whistleblowers exploded in the United States. After the Democratic Party was eavesdropped in 1972, a task force formed by the FBI conducted an investigation. Many evidences directly pointed to the then President Nixon. However, the investigation team received instructions from the highest level of the FBI to stop the investigation and requested The essential purpose of keeping facts uncovered during an investigation confidential is to protect the sitting president.
This incident, which caused a stir in the world, eventually led to Nixon announcing his resignation as president in 1974, becoming the first president to resign due to a scandal in the history of the United States. However, the struggle behind this was not easy. The then deputy director of the FBI, Mark Felt, under heavy pressure, exposed the truth to the public and risked his life and politics. Fortunately, he finally succeeded and changed the history of the matter in one fell swoop. American History. The
incident directly led to the U.S. Congress revising the Civil Service Reform Act, and the Whistleblower Protection Act was officially passed in 1989. It combined the previous legal protection measures for whistleblowers and strengthened the specific protection system. In the bill Three years after it came into effect, the number of "whistleblowers" in the United States has increased by 20%, and the number of protected persons has increased by 13%. So far, the funds spent in the United States to reward "whistleblowers" have exceeded dozens of dollars.
Later, the bill was revised many times and continuously improved, playing a major role in protecting "insider insiders." The "Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act" passed in 2012 expanded the scope of protection to federal employees of the intelligence community and others who have obtained security Licensed Personnel.
Up to now, the "Whistleblower Act" is no longer a separate law, but a complete legal system to protect whistleblowers, which plays a positive role in promoting integrity, safeguarding fairness, and promoting U.S. economic development.
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"Whistleblower" is actually a character that is hated by vested interests and loved by the public. However, in the United States, "whistleblower" has developed into a popular industry due to the supporting reward mechanism.
In the United States, because the public and insiders are encouraged to In order to expose information that endangers public interests, "whistleblowers" have been widely used in anti-counterfeiting and public interest litigation. This kind of role that dares to make a prophetic voice and fight against corruption has been well developed. But it is undeniable that the "whistleblower" is a character hated by vested interests and loved by the public.
Therefore, the US government has introduced a series of bills to support and protect "whistleblowers" instead of ignoring and intimidating "whistleblowers". This is a full recognition of an informed person who dares to expose for the sake of the public interest. With a powerful mechanism that mobilizes the public to play a supervisory role, "whistleblowers" will not only not lose their jobs or be punished for their "whistleblowing" behavior, but they can also keep their official positions, and they may even be able to prosper.
This will encourage more people to heed the call of their inner conscience and dare to tell more people the truth, which will help safeguard the interests of the broader public group.
But what "whistleblowers" are most likely to face is that they will become rumormongers in the early stage. This is often due to people's different predictions of the event, or because of information asymmetry, so they simply form misjudgments, and even take measures against these people. Wrong action. Therefore, the "Whistleblower Protection Act" in the United States clarifies the specific procedures for disclosure, and at the same time severely cracks down on untrue situations.
Especially the "Whistleblower Protection Act" allows individuals or groups to sue the government and local enterprises in their own names. Therefore, there are many lawsuits in the name of "public interest litigation" in the United States, which often require large amounts of compensation. This is the United States. The reason why many civil cases require compensation of hundreds of millions of dollars is because the law provides protection for public rights defenders.
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The U.S. "Whistleblower Protection Act" not only encourages and guides the public to participate voluntarily and voluntarily, but also has the guiding value of legal principles behind it.
The "Whistleblower Act" plays a role in stimulating the public's free contributions and can effectively motivate The public spontaneously participates in social management, always has a fair heart, always holds the idea of justice, and always performs righteous actions.
Because being a "whistleblower" requires not only conscience but also courage, it is easy to cultivate a just group with a high sense of social belonging and social empathy, which coincides with the spirit of benevolence; and allows the pursuit of justice If people can be treated fairly and receive huge material rewards, then whether it is spiritual or material incentives, it will naturally promote the emergence of more just behaviors.
At the same time, from an institutional perspective, the series of bills on "whistleblowers" have promoted the prosperity of the legal economy in the United States to a certain extent. Therefore, American lawyers are very happy to litigate from the perspective of public knowledge, because the benefits after winning the lawsuit can be realized. Directly on themselves, so they happily contribute to the role of "whistleblower".
And from another perspective, compared with the government using a large amount of public power to strengthen supervision, whistleblowers are obviously less expensive to maintain information disclosure. Especially at the level of the rule of law, "whistleblowers" can more easily curb corporate deviance, illegality and criminal behavior, and at the same time can strengthen the role of social supervision.
In fact, the "Guiding Opinions on Establishing a Food Safety Reporting System with Prizes" issued in 2011 also has the same effect as the "Whistleblower Protection Act", so that we can fully mobilize the power of the rule of law and protect the public's knowledge. There is good room for promotion of human rights and public interests.
Conclusion
The U.S. "whistleblower" protection system, as a method that can be operated legally, appropriately and effectively, is of great legal value in protecting the rights of whistleblowers as a special role. It can not only truly change the negative social atmosphere and Illegal activities are reported and prosecuted normally, and at the same time, "whistleblowers" can regulate their own behavior, use legal channels to protect public and private interests, and maintain a dynamic balance of the rule of law.
With the development of society and economy, "whistleblowers" have become an important system. If their worries can be reduced, more people will inevitably participate in supervising their own industries and dare to speak out justice in the face of public interests. The voice is valuable in safeguarding fairness, justice and the vital interests of the public.
"Whistleblower" embodies a kind of righteous values, which has reference significance for caring about people's health and life safety in emergencies. At the same time, it can promote social righteousness and encourage more people to dare to stand up for the public. Interests speak out.
Reference:
The development history of the US "Whistleblower Protection Act", China Court Network.
