Corruption in any organization will be identified by the employees of that particular organization in the first instance. Employees of an organization are privy to many secrets and information pertaining to the organization that they are working for. Any unethical, immoral or illegal actions that are taking place come to the notice of the employees. The employees are actually within the 'crime vicinity'. In most of the situations the employee does not react to these unethical activities whatsoever maybe the reason. They either turn a blind eye towards these or relinquish their job. But there are others who would like to bring these discrepancies to the notice of the authorities. Such an employee, or member of an organization, especially a business or government agency, who reports misconduct to people or entities that have the power and presumed willingness to take corrective action is termed as 'whistleblower'. The misconduct reported in such a manner is generally something which has a potential to become a direct threat to public interest. Although the term `whistleblowing' is not a new phenomenon, it has made entry into the vocabulary of public and corporate affairs recently.

The term whistleblower has its origin in United Kingdom. The term can be attributed to the action of the 'English bobbies (police constables)' who blew their whistle when they noticed the commission of a crime. This whistleblowing is done with an intention to alert the law enforcement authorities as well as the public. Thus to save the public. The motive behind the act of whistleblowing 'then and now' is similar i.e., for safeguarding the public good.

Modern time whistleblower can be an employee or other person with inside knowledge of wrongdoing either inside a company or a government agency. Whistleblowing can be classified into two i.e., internal whistleblowing and external whistleblowing. Internal whistleblowers report misconduct to another employee or superior within their company or organization whereas an external whistleblower reports misconduct to outside persons or entities like the media or law enforcement authorities. Internal whistleblowing is often helpful to the organization or company itself, as it helps them to correct their discrepancies internally and save themselves from embarrassment before the public. Instead of giving a serious thought about the discrepancies pointed out by the 'employee' and rectifying it, the organization generally try to keep the issue under wraps by harassing the employee. The downfall of Enron Corporation, USA is an example for this. The then Enron Vice President for corporate development Sherron S. Watkins pointed out the inconsistency in Enron's accounting practices in 2001.

Whatever be the type of disclosure, the whistleblowers are often harassed. Most of the employers view whistleblowing narrowly and try to limit the impact of whistleblowing by trying to prove the 'so called malicious interest' of the whistleblower. More often the action of these employees is categorized under 'disloyalty'. The fellow employees also join hands with the employer and mete out harassment to these whistleblowers. The act of harassments includes victimization, legal actions, assault etc. Most of these people are under constant death threat. Joe Darby who brought out the Abu Gharib prison (at Iraq) abuse is under constant government protection as his life is under threat. There are instances wherein the whistleblowers were murdered in order to hush up the misconduct that they brought out to the public. In India Satyendra Dubey who was project director at the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was murdered because he uncovered a large-scale breach of NHAI rules regarding sub-contracting and quality control. Though the act of whistleblowing is done with an intention to 'correct a wrong' it is not often perceived so. This kind of response to a noble act, time and again deters the 'employees' to turn a blind eye towards the misconduct that they are witness to, and continue with their day to day activities.

Whistleblowing if encouraged can root out many evils that are existing like corruption. Unless the people are assured that they will be protected by law after their act of 'disclosure' not many will come forward to do such an act. Realizing this need the USA, UK, Australia etc., have enacted certain legislations. In the United Kingdom, the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 was enacted with an objective to protect those individuals who disclose information so as to expose malpractice. In USA, the first enactment regarding protection for whistleblowers was Lloyd-La Follette Act of 1912. This enactment granted protection only to federal government employees. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, was enacted in 2002 specifically for corporate fraud whistleblowers. In Australia the Public Service Act was enacted in 1999 to provide protection for employees of Australian Public Service Agencies. Though these enactments are in place, there is no proper definition of the types of disclosures that need to be granted protection. Every legislation is vague on this regard. Countries like India do not have a specific legislation to protect the whistleblowers. After the murder of Satyendra Dubey an Ordinance for whistleblowers' protection was promulgated in India in 2004. Unless a specific policy is framed which gives ample protection for the whistleblowers, people will not be confident to reveal the misconduct that they are witness to in their organization.

The articles in this book gives an introduction to the concept of 'whistleblowers' and the related legislations that are existing around the world. The articles also try to analyze the existing legislations, the shortcomings in them and emphasizes the need for a well defined legislation on whistleblowers and their protection.

Any 'discrepancies' in an organization comes first to the notice of the employees. Most of the time they do not react to this. This silence of employees can be attributed to their fear of harassment, isolation, dismissal. The article 'Whistleblowing the State of the Art' (The Role of the Individual, Organisations, The State, The Media, The Law and

Civil Society) by Guy Dehn and Richard Calland takes a look at the different types of whistleblowing, the manner in which the disclosure of such people are looked into and analyses the need for a concrete policy on this issue.

Though whistleblowers are treated as an asset to the society they suffer enormously for their 'disclosure'. More often the actual 'issue' which they disclose is forgotten and they turn out to be the target of ridicule and harassment. Five methods of inhibiting outrage are followed by the perpetrators of any wrongdoing or crime in general (cover up, devaluate the target, reinterpretation, using official channels to give only the appearance of justice and intimidation and bribery). The article 'Bucking The System: Andrew Wilkie and The Difficult Task Of The Whistleblower' by Brian Martin describes the manner in which Andrew Wilkie, an analyst in the office of National Assessments, Australia dodged the five methods to bring out the wrongful act.

Employees who ascend the success ladder in a company using unethical means fetch more respect than the whistleblowers. Yet, the whistleblowers are increasing. The consequences of a whistleblower's actions generally are equivalent to the consequences of committing a criminal act. The attempt of the whistleblower to 'correct' the wrong doing is often forgotten. The article 'The Necessary Illegitimacy of The Whistleblower' by Kim Sawyer, Jackie Johnson and Mark Holub emphasizes the need for whistleblower legislation which has to be designed to protect the whistleblower against the retaliatory actions of the organization, and safeguard whistleblower's moral integrity.

Whistleblowing is treated as a 'socially responsible dissent' in Australia. Employees opt for external whistleblowing, as the internal whistleblowing will place them in an embarrassing position. Internal whistleblowing is actually beneficial for the companies themselves as they can save themselves from public humiliation. Though legislations are in place regarding protection of whistleblowers in Australia and New Zealand there is no clear bifurcation between the internal and external whistleblowers. The article 'Whistleblowing: The Advantages of Self-Regulation' by Andrea Bather and Martin Kelly emphasizes the need for an effective whistleblower policy that will be beneficial both for the organization as well as for the whistleblowers.

Problems and scandals exist both in government as well as corporate sectors. Whistleblowing is not a new phenomenon and it existed even in the 1850s. The need for implementation of a whistleblowing policy and certain best practices to be followed is the main theme of discussion in the article entitled 'Whistleblowing and Good Governance' by Tim V Eaton and Michael D Akers. The article is concluded by providing certain guidelines which has to be followed while drafting a whistleblowing policy

.The abuses at Abu Gharib was brought to the notice of the authority by a major whistleblowing after USA declared 'global war on terrorism'. Darby who was the whistleblower, received and is still receiving death threats and is under permanent government protection. The 'first amendment' in USA is looked upon as a provision which if invoked would protect the whistleblowers which in reality speak otherwise. Michael P Scharf and Colin T McLaughlin in their article 'On Terrorism and Whistleblowing' argue that the government whistleblower who in good faith discloses information to the press should no longer be treated as an enemy of the state, and provide a legislative proposal to give them a greater degree of protection from retaliation than that which exists under current legislation.

Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002 (SOX) of USA grants civil remedies to certain corporate Whistleblowers'. It prohibits 'retaliation' by the companies against the whistleblowers'. The article 'Sarbanes Oxley Whistleblower Law: Summary and Review' by Debra S Katz discusses various cases wherein whistleblowers were granted protection and vice versa. It also discusses about the rules promulgated regarding the reporting requirements of attorneys who are practicing before the Securities Exchange Commission, on any material violation of the Securities Act, by their clients.

Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002 was enacted to restore investor confidence. Though the Act was intended to address domestic concerns the impact was felt globally due to the important role played by USA capital markets internationally. The Act provides terms for protection of whistleblowers in certain disclosures, but these are not extended to foreign workers employed by the overseas subsidiaries of US companies. The article 'Between A Rock and A Hard Place: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Its Global Impact' by Paul Lanois explores the extraterritorial application of Sarbanes-Oxley and US securities law.

Voicing concerns over matter that are of public interest, both in public and private sectors is a recognized thing. The article 'Symbols or Substance? Priorities for the Reform of Australian Public Interest Disclosure Legislation' by A J Brown and Paul Latimer takes a brief look at Australia's eleven recent public sector laws as well as bills that is pertaining to Australian public interest disclosure laws. The article tries to define a 'whistleblower' (none of the statutes actually define a whistleblower) and the types of wrongdoing that can form subject of disclosures which are to be granted protection. The article emphasizes on the fact that there is a need to strengthen employers' obligations to protect the whistleblowers irrespective of whether they are found in the public or private sectors.

Employees of any organization have the option of either internal or external whistleblowing. Before opting for external whistleblowing the employees should exhaust the available internal whistleblowing mechanisms. To encourage employees to decide on whistleblowing, a specific legislation which identifies the types of 'disclosure' that ought to be protected is necessary. The existing statutes in Canada regarding whistleblowers both in private and public sector are confined only to 'disclosures' on specific issues. The article 'The Need for Whistleblowing Legislation in Canada: A Critical Defense' by Jonathan Carson suggests that the objective of whistleblowing legislation must be to define a mechanism for reporting and protection for the whistleblower within the proper channel.