Staff members of the Council of Europe have the obligation, by virtue of Article 1.6 of the Staff Regulations, to report wrongdoing. All current and former Secretariat members, members of CoE’s organs, bodies, committees and working groups, as well as persons involved with the Organisation’s activities and consultants and other contractors are also expected to report wrongdoing. Members of the public are encouraged to report wrongdoing should they become aware of it.

What information shall be provided?

Reporting persons should provide relevant details to allow the DIO to assess the information, including covering the following questions:

  • What type of wrongdoing is being reported?
  • Where and when the events occurred?
  • Who is involved or has knowledge of the reported facts?
  • A description of the acts and/or omissions and why they are considered to be wrongdoing.

Persons who make a report under the Organisation's legal framework shall not be sanctioned, treated adversely, or lose their employment because they raised concerns in good faith. Good faith does not necessarily mean that the reporting persons are right in their assessment of an action or omission as wrongdoing. It means that the reporting person sincerely believes that wrongdoing has occurred or might occur.

The right to be protected from retaliation does not depend upon the Council of Europe concluding that wrongdoing occurred as that person alleged. However, malicious or intentionally false reports will not be tolerated; such actions will be dealt with swiftly by the Council of Europe and may result in disciplinary proceedings.

 Please note that the information you report will be treated in a confidential manner and only be accessible to the Director, the Head of the Investigation Division and those carrying out the respective investigative activities.

Which means for reporting are available?

 Via the Reporting form

 By E-mail

This email account is checked regularly and is accessible only to the Director of Internal Oversight, Head of Investigations, and the Investigator within the DIO.

 By telephone at +33 (0)3 88 41 30 00

This number reaches an answer machine - where you can leave a voice message - which is accessible only to the Director of Internal Oversight, Head of Investigation Division, and the Investigator within the DIO.

 By Regular mail to:

The Director of DIO
CONFIDENTIAL 
Council of Europe
Avenue de l’Europe
F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex

  Or to contact the DIO directly: if you are a Secretariat member, we invite you to contact the Director, the Head of Investigation Division, or the Investigator within the DIO.

Does the DIO accept anonymous reports?

In line with the Rule on investigations, the DIO accepts reports irrespective of their source, including reports from anonymous or confidential sources.

The Council of Europe is committed to protecting Secretariat members from retaliation.
To ensure that targeted protective measures against retaliation can be deployed quickly and decisively, reports of wrongdoing made by Secretariat members must include their name. The provision of their name will not affect the confidentiality of the procedure, which will continue to be upheld.

Reporting persons who are not Secretariat members may choose to report wrongdoing anonymously. However, they should be aware that anonymous reporting does not enable the Council of Europe to efficiently protect them from the outset. Furthermore, when the information reported anonymously is not adequate to enable the Council of Europe to determine whether an investigation is warranted, it may not be possible to take the report further without the assistance of the reporting person.

The Speak Up Policy guarantees against retaliation. Attempts by persons alleged to have committed wrongdoing to identify a reporting person by subjecting colleagues to questioning or intimidation fall under the definition of retaliatory action and should be notified to the DIO.