Better safe than sorry: Even though we will do everything in our power to make sure you will never need to make use of the measures described below, we still want to inform you about our set-up with respect to what is known as “whistleblowing” and the protection of informers.

At the same time, we are obliged to share the below information with you under the law – more specifically, Act No. 171/2023 Coll., on the protection of whistleblowers, in conjunction with Act No. 253/2008 Coll., on certain measures against the legitimization of proceeds from crime and the financing of terrorism (the Czech “AML Act”), within the meaning of which our law firm is what is known as an obliged entity.

Whistleblowing is the established term for how to safely bring attention to rules being broken at an organization – i.e., in our case, any actual or imminent breach of laws or regulations, unfair or unethical conduct on the part of our firm, its employees (junior lawyers, students, or administrative staff), associates, or anyone else working with us (accounting and tax advisors, other consultants, IT experts, etc.)

For us as a law firm, it is extremely important that everyone who is involved in our internal operations and in providing services to clients will always act ethically beyond reproach and in accordance with the code of conduct. Under no circumstances will we tolerate behavior that is in conflict with our standards or with the law, or that would earn us a stern look and firm reprimand from our moms. After all, you can’t trust a lawyer who preaches water but drinks wine – and we don’t want untrustworthy lawyers in our ranks. Consequently, we are open to receiving notices from anyone who may report suspicious, wrongful or unlawful behavior under the Whistleblowers Protection Act.

If you happen to know that anyone belonging to our law firm has channeled their inner Darth Vader rather than their inner Luke Skywalker, you can notify us via our internal notification system through any of the following channels:

It is exclusively a matter of your personal preference and courage whether you submit your report anonymously or whether you reveal your identity. If you do include your contact details, we will let you know how we’ve handled your report; in any case, we guarantee that the identity of the whistleblower will not be leaked under any circumstances.

If you don’t want to resolve your notice of potential unlawful conduct discreetly with us, you may turn to the Ministry of Justice using their reporting system at https://oznamovatel.justice.cz (i.e., either by submitting the electronic form which can be accessed on the above website of the Ministry, or by sending e-mail to the address provided on that website, or by contacting the designated official at the Ministry of Justice – again, their contact details are publicly posted on the above website of the Ministry).

If your report concerns potential unlawful activities within the realm of the Czech AML Act, you should submit it via e-mail to the head of the Financial Analytical Office (Finanční analytický úřad) at reditel@fau.mfcr.cz, or to the Czech Bar Association at epodatelna@cak.cz.

If you feel like you hold really strong cards, you may of course consider bringing out the big guns straight away and file an old-fashioned criminal complaint with law enforcement (i.e., any police station or public prosecutor’s office), and they will take care of the rest.

You have nothing to worry about! The popular adage of revenge being sweet notwithstanding, we uncompromisingly and firmly honor the strict ban on retaliatory measures.