Through this initiative, Transparency International Estonia will create the Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (ALAC) to provide free legal advice using safe channels and the help of pro bono law firms to people who are considering reporting or have experienced retaliation due to reporting. Without reporting fraud and corruption, wrongdoing continues and indirectly damages the entire society.
Operating ALAC through a trusted NGO such as TI Estonia, the awareness of how to report safely will increase. Through TI Estonia’s strategic litigation in important cases, the case law will improve the protection of whistleblowers. This is vital as after the adoption of the new law in 2021, TI Estonia can influence court precedence and give statistics-based input to the legal framework on whistleblower protection.
To guarantee ALAC’s financial sustainability, TI Estonia will use already existing networks with high growth potential such as the Business Integrity Forum and organizations that participate in its trainings programme. TI Estonia’s advocacy will become highly informed and the chapter more citizen-centred thanks to reports received by ALAC. Because of the way how ALAC is set up and the knowledge it provides, more stakeholders will participate in the third sector, society will become more transparent and rule of law in Estonia will improve.
