Court of Appeal makes motive paramount in whistleblowing cases

For
a person to be protected by whistleblowing legislation, disclosures must be
made in "good faith" with the main motive of the person disclosing
information being "to remedy the wrong that has occurred", according
to the Court of Appeal.

In
the case of Street v Derbyshire Unemployed Workers’ Centre the court said that
whistleblowers often have mixed motives, and it is only when the "dominant
or predominant motive for making [the disclosure] was for some ulterior
motive" that the disclosure ceases to be in good faith.

The
Public Interest Disclosure Act covers people at work raising genuine concerns
about crime, civil offences, miscarriage of justice, danger to health and
safety or the environment and the cover up of any of these. It applies whether
or not the information is confidential and extends to malpractice occurring
overseas.

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For
more information on whistleblowing rights, go to http://www.pcaw.co.uk

By Michael Millar