Lithuanian whistleblower protection law "Pranešėjų apsaugos įstatymas"

Lithuania protected whistleblowers before the European Union required it. Its Pranešėjų apsaugos įstatymas, the Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers, has run since 1 January 2019. It was rewritten on 15 February 2022 to fold in the EU directive. It sends external reports to the Prosecutor General's Office, pays uncapped rewards for valuable tips, and shields the people who come forward.

How Lithuania built a whistleblower law before the EU required one

Lithuania was an early mover. Its first whistleblower law took effect on 1 January 2019. That was before EU Directive 2019/1937 even set a deadline. Lawmakers then rewrote it. The new version came into force on 15 February 2022, and it brought the EU rules into Lithuanian law.

The law has one aim. It makes it safe to report wrongdoing at work. It sets out the rights of people who report a breach. It spells out how they are protected. And it lists the help the state owes them. It also folds in the EU whistleblower directive. For a Lithuanian employer, it is the single rulebook on how to take and handle a report.

Who is protected, and what can they report?

The law draws a line between two roles. First comes the person who reports a breach. That is anyone who flags wrongdoing they learned about through work. Second comes the pranešėjas, the recognized whistleblower. The Prosecutor General's Office formally grants that status, and it unlocks the strongest protections.

"A whistleblower is a person, referred to in this Article, whom the competent authority recognizes as a whistleblower."
Article 2, Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers

The shield reaches well beyond staff on the payroll. It covers the self-employed, shareholders, board members, volunteers, and trainees. It reaches people who work for the firm's contractors. It also protects a facilitator who helps the reporter. Their relatives and colleagues are covered too, if they could face payback.

You can report almost any breach. It need not be a breach of EU law. The directive covers set fields of EU law. Lithuania goes wider. Its law reaches any crime, administrative offence, or breach of work duties that threatens the public interest. A serious breach of professional ethics counts too. The law lists grounds such as:

• threats to public safety, health, or a person's life;
• threats to the environment;
• obstruction of justice or law-enforcement work;
• the financing of illegal activity;
• the misuse of public funds or property;
• assets gained by illegal means;
• breaches of EU competition and state-aid rules; and
• harm to the EU's financial interests.

Why reports in Lithuania can go to the Prosecutor General's Office

A report can travel one of three routes. A worker can use the employer's internal channel. They can go straight to the competent authority. Or, in narrow cases, they can go public. What sets Lithuania apart is the authority it chose. That authority is the Prosecutor General's Office.

"The functions of the competent authority laid down in this Law are carried out by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Lithuania."
Article 5, Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers

A worker does not always have to try the inside route first. They can go straight to the prosecutor in several cases. The breach may be grave. Speed may matter. The bosses themselves may be involved. Or the internal channel may have failed, or never existed. Going fully public is the last resort. The law allows it mainly when life, health, or the environment is in urgent danger.

A report can be written or spoken. It can even be anonymous. If a reporter stays anonymous, the law's protections still apply once their identity comes out and they need shielding.

The prosecutor does more than collect reports. It decides who counts as a pranešėjas. Once a report meets the law's tests, the office recognizes the reporter within 10 working days. That decision opens the door to rewards, compensation, and free legal aid.

How do you set up the internal reporting channel?

Employ 50 or more people, and you must run an internal reporting channel. Public bodies need one whatever their size. A responsible person handles each report. Government rules set how the channel works. They also say how it must keep reports confidential.

The deadlines are tight. The employer must confirm a report within 2 working days. It must update the reporter within 10 working days. Records of a report must be kept for at least 5 years.

WeMoral handles that internal channel as audit-ready whistleblowing software that satisfies the Pranešėjų apsaugos įstatymas. A Lithuanian reporter can claim an uncapped reward for a solid tip. So the people most worth hearing will use a channel they trust. WeMoral keeps each report sealed to the responsible person you name. The law lets that role sit with an outside provider, and WeMoral can take that seat. Or you keep it with your own appointee. You can roll out an internal reporting channel in an afternoon.

What protection does a whistleblower get?

A wide shield. From the day someone reports, the law bans any payback against them. It lists 27 forms of it. They run from dismissal and demotion to pay cuts, harassment, and even being sent for a needless medical check. The ban also covers the reporter's family and colleagues.

Two guarantees carry real weight. One reverses the burden of proof. Punish a worker after they report, and you must prove it was not payback. The other frees a good-faith reporter from any liability for sharing the information, even when it was confidential.

"Where the person who reported a breach suffered detriment, the employer must prove that the detriment was not caused by the report."
Article 10, Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers

The state also pays for a lawyer. A recognized whistleblower gets free legal aid, whatever they earn, with no income test. And someone who took part in the wrongdoing can still be released from liability for their own role, once they report it.

Rewards and compensation, including an uncapped payout

Lithuania does something few EU states do. It pays whistleblowers. A pranešėjas who hands the prosecutor valuable information can receive a reward. The government sets the amount. The reward tracks the harm the breach caused, or could have caused. And the law sets no upper limit on it.

There is a second kind of money. A whistleblower who suffers for reporting can ask for compensation. The cap is 50 basic social benefits. At the current base rate of 70 euros, that is about 3,500 euros. A reporter can take the reward or the compensation, but not both.

What are the penalties for breaking the law?

Break the rules and the fine is modest. Lithuania's Code of Administrative Offences punishes anyone who breaches the whistleblower law. Under Article 555¹, the fine runs from 140 to 4,000 euros. It falls on the managers and officials responsible, not the company as a whole.

The law cuts both ways. Some reports get no protection. A knowingly false report is one. So is leaking a state, official, or professional secret. The person who does it answers under general law instead.

Lithuania's law leans on trust and reward more than on the threat of a fine. It came early, in 2019. The net is wide, reaching any harm to the public interest. And the keys go to prosecutors, not a labour inspector or a new agency. Its sharpest tool is the uncapped reward, which pulls the tips that matter into the open, and the 4,000-euro fine looks almost like an afterthought next to it. For an employer the job is plain: open a channel, name a responsible person, and answer fast. To see how Lithuania compares with the rest of Europe, read our guide to whistleblower laws by country.