Whistle-blowing and free speech under the European Court of Human Rights and under Nigerian Law: Halet v Luxembourg, Application No. 21884/18, decision of the European Court of Human Right, February 14, 2023

This piece will first examine the recent ruling of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Halet v Luxembourg. The case concerned the disclosure by an employee of a private company of confidential documents comprising tax returns of multinational companies and other documents, obtained from his workplace. The employee now claims that a criminal fine against him was a breach of his free speech rights, guaranteed by Article 10 of the European Convention. The decision will be examined to identify where Western human rights law draws a balance between the respective rights and interests of the parties, and what impact it might have on state law in this area. The piece will then examine how this area is addressed and resolved in a different jurisdiction – Nigeria – and how proposed legislation will potentially affect the rights of both parties.