Long before the Whistleblower Protection Act (HinSchG) came into force on July 2, 2023, it was not only municipal employees who were able to make use of a service offered by the city to pass on information about possible criminal offenses and other breaches of regulations in the administration. Responsibility for this was initially still provisionally assigned to the Audit Office.

In the meantime, sustainable organizational structures have been created there with the establishment of the "Integrity and Whistleblower Protection Unit", which also operates the internal reporting office for the city administration. They ensure that the city fully complies with the strict requirements of the Whistleblower Protection Act (in particular absolute confidentiality and protection against reprisals).

In addition to its expertise and a comprehensive advisory service, the internal reporting office now also offers an additional, specially protected reporting channel.

All services can be used by anyone who has become aware of breaches of regulations by municipal employees in the course of their professional contact with the city administration (e.g. as a contractual partner or commercial recipient of services).

The electronic whistleblowing system now offered enables secure, structured and convenient whistleblowing directly to the municipal reporting office officers. It was deliberately designed as a low-threshold and barrier-free service so that it can also be easily used by people without German language skills or with limited communication skills.

The system encrypts all information in a legally secure manner and generally excludes the possibility of tracing messages to establish identity. Whistleblowers who do not wish to disclose their identity can also continue to communicate with the internal reporting office by simply creating a secure mailbox in the system - while remaining anonymous.

You will also find further information about the system itself, the submission of reports and the whistleblowing procedure, the legal requirements and the team and tasks of the internal reporting office at the City of Bonn.

You can find more comprehensive information on all these topics as well as on questions of corruption prevention and integrity in the administration on the pages of the  Integrity and Whistleblower Protection Unit .

Under the direction of the municipal contact person (officer) for corruption prevention, this department will be happy to answer any questions you may have in advance. You can rely on open, fair and trusting communication while maintaining absolute confidentiality, naturally also including a female contact person if you wish.