Office

Reporting antisocial activity

Act No. 54/2019 Coll. on the protection of whistleblowers and on amendments to certain acts (hereinafter referred to as the "Act") regulates the conditions for providing protection to persons in an employment or other similar relationship in connection with reporting crime or other antisocial activity (hereinafter referred to as the "antisocial activity") and also the rights and obligations of persons when reporting antisocial activity.

Antisocial activity is understood to mean:

• • crime, i.e. conduct that is a criminal offense,
• • other antisocial activity, i.e. :  conduct that is a misdemeanor or other administrative offense or conduct that is not a misdemeanor or other administrative offense, but has a negative effect on society and is at the same time capable of threatening or violating the public interest.

A whistleblower under the law is a natural person who, in good faith, makes a report to the competent authority and states in it facts that he or she has learned in connection with the performance of his or her employment, profession, position or function or in connection with an activity in the public interest and which relate to antisocial activity.

The Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter referred to as the “IPO SR”) has issued, pursuant to Section 10, Paragraph 9 of the Act, an internal management act – Sm/11/2023/Directive on the Protection of Whistleblowers of Antisocial Activities in the IPO SR (PDF, 1,5 MB) (hereinafter referred to as the “Directive”), which regulates the procedure for submitting and verifying reports of antisocial activities and the conditions for providing protection to whistleblowers.

In accordance with the Directive, each employee of the IPO SR may submit to the IPO SR a notification of facts that he or she has learned in connection with an employment or other similar relationship and that relate to antisocial activities related to the IPO SR, through a responsible person.

The tasks of the responsible person under the Act are performed for the IPO SR by the organizational unit - the Special Tasks Department (hereinafter referred to as the “STD”).

A notification of antisocial activities related to the IPO SR pursuant to Section 2, Letter a b) of the Act, another natural person may also file a complaint with the Office of the Slovak Republic pursuant to Section 2(a) of the Act (i.e., for example, a former employee of the Office of the Slovak Republic, a person who participated in the tender procedure or a supplier of the Office of the Slovak Republic).

In accordance with the Directive, a report of anti-social activity can be submitted:

1. Electronically to the e-mail address korupcia(at)indprop.gov.sk, which is available 24 hours a day and accessible only to the responsible person.
2. In person to the responsible person at the premises of the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic in Banská Bystrica (during business hours on weekdays).
3. In writing to the address: Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic, Special Tasks Department, Švermova 43, 974 04 Banská Bystrica. The reporter shall place the report in a sealed envelope with a visible marking "Report of antisocial activity - DO NOT OPEN"

The e-mail address is not used for filing complaints, petitions, reports under special regulations (e.g. under Act No. 9/2010 Coll. on complaints, submissions within the framework of administrative proceedings pursuant to Act No. 71/1967 Coll. on administrative proceedings, requests pursuant to Act No. 211/2000 Coll. on free access to information, etc.), nor for directly filing criminal reports that fall within the competence of criminal prosecution authorities (police, prosecutor's office).

A report on antisocial activity can also be submitted via an external system to the authority competent to receive the report:

• The Office for the Protection of Whistleblowers (via the form on the website https://www.oznamovatelia.sk/chcem-oznamit/),
• the relevant prosecutor's office, in case of suspicion of a criminal offense,
• the relevant administrative authority, in case of suspicion of an administrative offense, which is a serious antisocial activity,
• the relevant institution, body, office or agency of the European Union.

Filing a report to the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Slovak Republic does not affect the obligation to report a criminal offense or to prevent a criminal offense pursuant to Sections 340 and 341 of Act No. 300/2005 Coll., Criminal Code. 
"A false accusation of a criminal offense with the intention of causing another person to be prosecuted is classified as a criminal offense of false accusation under Section 345 of Act No. 300/2005 Coll. of the Criminal Code."