II. Understanding the Stakes: High Corruption and Low Reporting In 2016, Albania adopted the law“On Whistleblowing and Whistleblower Protection”. 8F 9 According to the law,“whistleblowing” is the reporting by a whistleblower 9F 10 of information regarding a suspected corruption act or practice, carried out at their workplace, 10F 11 to the responsible unit in the relevant public or private entity or the High Inspectorate of Declaration and Auditing of Assets and Conflict of Interests(HIDAACI). The law requires public authorities with more than 80 employees and private entities with more than 100 employees to establish a “responsible unit” to record, investigate and examine these reports. 11F 12 In this framework, there are respectively 362 and 527 such responsible units established and operating in the public and private sectors. 12F 13 Despite these measures, and considering the high level of corruption, the number of reported whistleblowing cases to these units and/or to the HIDAACI remains low. In 2021, there were a mere eight cases reported to the responsible units within two public institutions and one of these was withdrawn. In the private sector, these units did not record or report any cases that year. 13F 14 For the same period, the HIDAACI noted 11 reported cases, with 10 originating from the public sector and 1 from the private sector. Additionally, one request for protection against retaliation was submitted in 2021. 14F 15 Given Albania’s history of surveillance by the secret police, whistleblowers have historically been labelled as“informants” or“spies”. 15F 16 Unfortunately, media coverage has perpetuated this stigma. 16F 17 Encouragingly, the situation has gradually shifted. As highlighted by the Albanian Security Barometer 2022, a substantial majority(85.5%) of respondents perceive citizens reporting or denouncing corruption as concerned and engaged individuals rather than spies or informants. 17F 18 Nevertheless, a significant gap in awareness persists. Only 26.8% of respondents 9 Law No. 60/2016 on“Whistleblowing and Whistleblower Protection”. Parliament of Albania. 10 A“whistleblower” is an individual who has entered a labour relationship regardless of the nature of the employment or its duration who blows the whistle regarding a suspected corruption act or practice. Ibid, Article 3, point 13. 11 Ibid, Article 3, point 10. 12 Ibid, Article 10. 13 High Inspectorate of Declaration and Auditing of Assets and Conflict of Interests, Yearly Report, 2021, https://www.ildkpki.al/raporte-vjetore/. 14 Ibid. 15 Ibid. 16 Arjan Dyrmishi, Elira Hroni and Egest Gjokutaj, November 2013, Whistleblowers protection in Albania: An assessment of the legislation and practice, Tirana: Institute for Democracy and Mediation. 17 http://www.panorama.com.al/si-survejohet-administrata-e-biznesi-me-609-spiune-raporti-i-ildkpi-rastet-qe-u­gjeten/. 18 Center for the Study of Democracy and Governance, Albanian Security Barometer 2022. https://csdgalbania.org/albanian-security-barometer-2022/. A KEY STEP IN EFFECTIVELY FIGHTING CORRUPTION | 5