Enter the ILL CFS reference number

Reminder of the legislation concerning whistleblowers

To be considered a whistleblower under the law and benefit from the associated protection regime, one must:

- meet the definition of a whistleblower, meaning that:

• the whistleblower is a natural person, i.e., they are not making the report as a company, NGO, association, etc.;
• the whistleblower is acting in good faith, i.e., based on the information available to them, they have reasonable grounds to believe that the facts they are reporting are true and may, in their opinion, be detrimental to the public interest; furthermore, they are not acting with the intention of causing harm;
• the whistleblower does not receive any direct financial compensation for their report;
• the whistleblower reports information concerning criminal or unlawful acts, or relating to a violation or attempted cover-up of a violation of the law, or to a threat or harm to the public interest;
• the facts, information, or documents communicated, regardless of their form or medium, are not covered by national defense secrecy, medical confidentiality, the secrecy of judicial deliberations, the secrecy of judicial investigations or preliminary inquiries, or attorney-client privilege;
• the whistleblower has personal knowledge of the facts when these were not obtained in the course of their professional activities;

- and must comply with the procedure established by law for reporting a whistleblower, as detailed below.

If you are subject to the standard whistleblower system, you are not required to make an internal report before making an external report to the Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority (ASNR).

Why contact the CFS Officer?

The CFS Officer is responsible for assisting ILL employees and, where applicable, employees of subcontracting companies that do not have a reporting system in place, to prevent and detect irregularities, i.e., counterfeiting, falsification, and suspected fraud.

In this capacity, they receive and process reports concerning incidents that may constitute irregularities encountered at the nuclear facility or during activities presenting a risk related to ionizing radiation, such as the transport of radioactive materials.

You can submit a report to the CFS Officer:

- Electronically via the form accessible below. This method is preferred as it allows you to submit supporting documents and facilitates the CFS Officer's processing of the report.

Once you have filled out the form, save it and send it to the following email address: fargues@remove-this.ill.fr, copy frery@remove-this.ill.fr.

- By mail, in a double envelope to protect the confidentiality of the correspondence.

The outer envelope must bear the following address:
Xavier FARGUES
CQSR
Institut Laue Langevin
38042 Grenoble Cedex

The inner envelope must be marked:
"CONFIDENTIAL – Whistleblowing Report"

How is a report processed?

The whistleblower is informed within 7 business days of receipt of their report.
The CFS Officer may request any information from the whistleblower that they deem necessary to assess the allegations made.
After analyzing the report, if the CFS Officer considers that the reported facts fall within their jurisdiction, they inform the whistleblower of the follow-up action.
If the CFS Officer considers that the reported facts do not fall within their jurisdiction, they explain the reasons to the whistleblower.

What are the possible follow-up actions to the report?

Following the processing of the report, the CFS (Criminal Safety and Security) Officer may decide to:

- Open an anomaly report;

- Forward the report to the ASNR (National Agency for the Safety of Radioactivity).

The whistleblower is informed of these actions.

What protection regime is in place for whistleblowers and those around them?

Possibilities for exemption from liability
From a criminal standpoint, a person who discloses a legally protected secret—other than one of the secrets mentioned above—is not liable, provided that this disclosure:
- is necessary and proportionate to safeguarding the interests at stake,
- complies with the reporting procedures defined by the Sapin 2 Law,
- and originates from a person meeting the whistleblower definition criteria outlined above.

In terms of civil liability, a whistleblower cannot be held civilly liable for damages caused by their good-faith report, provided that the report was necessary to safeguard the interests at stake.

List of retaliatory measures, threats, and attempts to use such measures to which whistleblowers cannot be subjected for reporting or disclosing information under the conditions stipulated by law.

Article L. 1121-2 of the French Labor Code for employees, Article L. 135-4 of the French General Code of the Civil Service for public servants, and, for other individuals, paragraph II of Article 10-1 of the Sapin 2 Law, provide a list of prohibited retaliatory measures.

Possibility of obtaining financial support from the judge
The whistleblower, presenting factual evidence suggesting that they made the report under the conditions stipulated by law, may request that the judge award them an advance payment for legal costs.

This may be granted in the following situations:

- when the whistleblower has filed an appeal against a retaliatory measure;
- during civil or criminal proceedings, when an action aimed at obstructing the whistleblower's report has been initiated against the whistleblower.

Protection of Whistleblowers' Support Network
Certain protections offered to whistleblowers (protection against reprisals, exemptions from criminal and civil liability, etc.) can also benefit:

- "facilitators," meaning "any natural person or any non-profit private legal entity that helps a whistleblower make a report or disclosure in accordance with Articles 6 and 8" of the Sapin 2 Law;
- natural persons connected to a whistleblower who risk being subjected to reprisals "in the course of their professional activities by their employer, their client, or the recipient of their services."

Learn more:

- Whistleblower Guide published by the Defender of Rights:
- Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law;
- Chapter II “On the protection of whistleblowers (Articles 6 to 16)” of Law No. 2016-1691 of 9 December 2016 on transparency, the fight against corruption and the modernization of economic life (known as the Sapin 2 Law) as amended by Law No. 2022-401 of 21 March 2022 aimed at improving the protection of whistleblowers;
- Organic Law No. 2011-333 of March 29, 2011, concerning the Defender of Rights (see Articles 4, 11, 35-1 and paragraph II of Article 36), as amended by Organic Law No. 2022-400 of March 21, 2022, aimed at strengthening the role of the Defender of Rights in matters of whistleblowing;
- Decree No. 2022-1284 of October 3, 2022, concerning the procedures for collecting and processing reports issued by whistleblowers and establishing the list of external authorities created by Law No. 2022-401 of March 21, 2022, aimed at improving the protection of whistleblowers;
- Article 122-9 of the Penal Code;

Learn more about guidance, support, and information on the rights and obligations of whistleblowers.

For any questions regarding guidance, support, and protection for whistleblowers, you can contact the Defender of Rights.

Organic Law No. 2011-333 of March 29, 2011, as amended, concerning the Defender of Rights, stipulates (Article 4) that the Defender of Rights is responsible for "informing, advising, and referring to the competent authorities any person reporting an alert under the conditions set by law, and for defending the rights and freedoms of whistleblowers and protected persons within the framework of a whistleblowing procedure."

Whistleblowers can directly submit a report to the Defender of Rights regarding matters within their areas of expertise (discrimination, children's rights, protection of users of public services, and ethics of the security forces).

Any person can request that the Defender of Rights certify their status as a whistleblower.