Whistleblowing: Law & Practice, (Hardcover)

THE DEFINITIVE WORK IN THIS EVOLVING AREA OF LAW – NOW IN A NEW EDITION An appreciation Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE of “The Barrister” Pity the plight of the poor whistleblower. In the not too distant past, it was positively hazardous for the well-meaning employee who spotted irregularities or wrongdoing in say, a large organisation, to ‘blow the whistle.' which in most cases, required vast reserves of courage and conviction. So, if one could point a tentative finger at one area of law which is most likely to capture the attention -- and fire the imagination -- of the general public, whistleblowing would likely be it. There's little doubt then, that practitioners and just about everybody else interested in this subject will welcome the latest edition of this long-established legal text on the subject, obligingly provided by the Oxford University Press. It's the third edition since the first one came out some ten years ago and as always, it retains its simple one-word title that's just as likely to capture the interest of the general reader as it has proved indispensable to the seasoned lawyer. ‘We…pay tribute,' say the four authors, ‘to the brave people who come forward to blow the whistle in the public interest.' In so saying, they stress that the heart of the legislation protecting whistleblowing is to encourage ‘responsible whistleblowing', when it is deserved that is -- and when it is indeed in the public interest. They point out that the principal drivers for the publication of this new edition are those themes which emanate from the amendments effected by the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 which aims toward protecting those who blow the whistle in the public interest, as opposed to those whose disclosures relate to purely personal concerns. The core legislation in this field, however, is the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, which the book examines in detail. Writing in the foreword, Sir Maurice Kay, former vice president of the Court of Appeal, reminds us ‘that legislation should provide specific protection for whistle blowers is no longer controversial.' For those concerned with corporate responsibility and good governance, this is good news. As you would expect, this new edition contains important new material, including detailed and extensive commentary on the 2013 legislation, as well as developments specific to the health and financial services discussed in the book's Chapter 12. Oh yes, and there's a chapter on the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence on whistleblowing in the workplace. Will this be scrapped after Brexit? One is inclined to hope not. Thorough, erudite, readable and resource-rich, this definitive work on the subject of whistleblowing should be regarded as an essential purchase for human rights lawyers and for that matter, all lawyers interested in this evolving area of the law. The publication date is cited as at 2017.