Brazil Introduces Public Hotlines and Rewards for Whistleblowers by Marcelo Castro Alves
Brazil introduced measures to facilitate the report of crimes and administrative offences.
Federal Law No. 13,608 was published on January 11th, 2018, which authorizes States to create telephone hotlines, to be preferably accessed for free. The law enables the hotline to be operated by non-profit private entities, through an agreement.
Regarding the payment of rewards, the law establishes that the Union, the States, Federal District and Municipalities may establish ways to reward whistleblowers who offer useful information to prevent, repress or determine crimes and administrative offences.
The new law still modifies Article 4 of Federal Law No. 10,201/2001, adding that the National Fund of Public Security will support the implementation of hotlines with the guarantee of confidentiality for whistleblowers and the payment of cash rewards for information leading to solving crimes, according to the anticorruption compliance field, Compliance & Investigations practice group of Trench Rossi Watanabe in São Paulo, Brazil.
