- Department:Comprehensive Planning Division
Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) expressed that “doing the rights things shall not be bullied” and that the government should protect and legally support whistle-blowers. EPA therefore added Article 54 to “Toxic and Concerned Chemical Substances Control Act” (hereinafter referred to as the Act); and promulgated “Regulations of Legal Aids for Whistleblowers Who Report Any Violation of Toxic and Concerned Chemical Substances Control Act” in accordance with Paragraph 7 of the same Article to encourage enterprises’ employees to report illegal behaviors.
According to Article 54 of the Act, operators must not dismiss, demote, reduce the salary of or impose any unfavorable punishment on professional technical management personnel or other employees who disclose its violations of the Act to the competent authority, act as the witness in the proceedings or refuse to participate in acts that violate the Act. The aforesaid punishment is considered as a type of labor-management disputes. In order to have it balanced with other labor-management handling and legal aid systems and to well use aid resources, EPA has stipulated “Regulations of Legal Aids for Whistleblowers Who Report Any Violation of Toxic and Concerned Chemical Substances Control Act” (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations) in accordance with the authorization specified in Paragraph 7 of the same Article; Regulations on Aids for Legal Service and Living Expenses of Labor-Management Disputes; Regulations for Providing Legal Aid in Lawsuits Concerning Gender Equality in Employment; and Regulations on Legal Aid for Employment Discrimination and Labor Dispute, Council of Indigenous Peoples. With 16 articles in total, it is expected the Regulations will provide legal assistances to whistleblowers.
The Regulations have specified the enforcement authority; targets of application; applicants’ qualifications; scope and standards of aids; application documents; application time limit and circumstance for joint applications; review methods; circumstances that the aid will not be granted or may be terminated or cancelled; and scope of and standards for legal aids. The scope of legal aids include lawyer service fee derived from legal advice and preparation for legal documents; lawyer agency fees derived from civil proceedings, preservation procedures, supervision procedures and enforcement procedures; and court costs for the said procedures. The enforcement authority of the Regulations, which refers to the competent authority of municipality, county or city, shall designate budget therefor accordingly. Besides, restrictions on resources are also specified in order to balance and well use aids relevant resources.
Concerning details of relevant information, please refer to the “News” zone of EPA’s website (https://enews.moenv.gov.tw/enews/fact_index.asp) and download files related thereto; or go to “Laws & Regulations” of EPA’s website to check detailed information 3 days upon the promulgation. Relevant information will also be published on “The Executive Yuan Gazette Online” (https://gazette.nat.gov.tw/egFront/). We welcome all circles to read more detailed information related thereto.
