Federal external reporting office
The federal external reporting office is the central state body established at the Federal Office of Justice to which whistleblowers may turn under the German Whistleblower Protection Act to report breaches confidentially.
The federal external reporting office is the central governmental point of contact for reports under the German Whistleblower Protection Act (Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz, HinSchG). It is established at the Federal Office of Justice (Bundesamt fuer Justiz, BfJ) pursuant to Section 19 HinSchG and is open to whistleblowers who do not wish to report breaches, or not exclusively, through an internal reporting office of their employer. It thus complements companies' and authorities' internal reporting offices as well as the specialised external reporting offices, such as those of BaFin or the Federal Cartel Office, and serves as the non-specialised catch-all authority for all remaining reports.
The task of the federal external reporting office is to provide reporting channels in oral and written form, and on request an in-person meeting, to receive incoming reports and to assess their validity. It maintains contact with the whistleblower, requests further information where necessary and takes appropriate follow-up action, such as referral to a competent authority, closing the procedure for lack of evidence, or forwarding the matter to a body responsible for investigation or sanctions. In doing so, it strictly upholds the confidentiality requirement and protects the identity of the persons involved.
The federal external reporting office is subject to the procedural deadlines of the HinSchG: it acknowledges receipt of a report in principle within seven days and gives the whistleblower feedback on planned or already taken follow-up measures no later than three months after the acknowledgement of receipt. Using it must not lead to reprisals; statutory protection applies regardless of whether an internal report was made beforehand, because the HinSchG grants whistleblowers the right to choose freely between internal and external reporting.
Legal Basis
Section 19 HinSchG (in conjunction with Sections 20 to 31 HinSchG)
Practical Example
An employee of a mid-sized company suspects systematic breaches of public procurement rules but fears that an internal report to management would be leaked. Instead, they contact the federal external reporting office at the Federal Office of Justice via the online reporting portal. They receive an acknowledgement of receipt within seven days, hold a confidential phone call for a plausibility check, and after eight weeks are informed that the matter has been forwarded to the competent public procurement tribunal. In parallel, the company's compliance officer documents that the internal reporting system must be promoted as an equivalent channel so that future reports can, where possible, be handled internally first.