Whistleblowing System (Germany)

1. Scope

The whistleblowing system is available for confidential reporting of violations identified in a professional context at MiraNext GmbH. The material scope follows § 2 HinSchG and covers in particular violations of:

• Provisions subject to criminal penalties, as well as provisions subject to administrative fines where the violated provision serves to protect life, limb or health or the rights of employees (§ 2 HinSchG),
• Union law and directly applicable EU legal acts as well as German provisions in the fields of data protection and information security, product and patient safety (in particular the MDR), anti-corruption and anti-money-laundering, occupational safety, tax and competition law,
• internal policies, codes of conduct and contractual obligations of MiraNext GmbH.

2. Protected persons

Protected under § 1 HinSchG are all persons who have obtained knowledge of a violation in a professional context, in particular:

• current and former employees as well as interns and working students,
• applicants in an ongoing recruitment process,
• contractors, suppliers, business partners and their staff,
• persons who assist whistleblowers or are connected to them.

3. Internal reporting channel

Internal reports may be submitted confidentially to our internal reporting office in accordance with § 16 HinSchG:

• Email: support@miranext.ai
• In person or by telephone: on request, a meeting will be arranged within 7 days; initial contact is made via support@miranext.ai.
• Anonymous reports are possible and are processed under § 16 (1) HinSchG in the same manner as named reports.

4. External reporting channel

Whistleblowers are free to contact an external reporting office directly instead of using the internal channel (§ 7 HinSchG). A prior internal report is not required. The following bodies are relevant in particular:

• The external reporting office of the Federation at the Federal Office of Justice (Bundesamt für Justiz, BfJ) under §§ 19 et seq. HinSchG.
• Sector-specific external reporting offices, in particular the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) and the Federal Cartel Office (BKartA).
• Sector-specific for medical devices: the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte, BfArM) for safety-relevant reports concerning MDR obligations.

5. Procedure

Our procedure complies with the minimum requirements and deadlines of § 17 HinSchG:

• Acknowledgement of receipt: within 7 days of receipt of the report (§ 17 (1) no. 1 HinSchG).
• Assessment of validity and follow-up measures: by the internal reporting office or through an independent internal investigation (§ 18 HinSchG).
• Feedback to the reporting person: within 3 months of the acknowledgement of receipt (§ 17 (1) no. 4 HinSchG), to the extent that this does not compromise the ongoing investigation.
• Documentation: all reports are documented confidentially in accordance with § 11 HinSchG; personal data are deleted after expiry of the statutory retention period (generally three years after the conclusion of the procedure).

6. Confidentiality

The identity of the reporting person as well as of all persons named in the report is treated with strict confidentiality under §§ 8, 9 HinSchG. Disclosure occurs only where legally mandatory (e.g. in the course of criminal proceedings) and after prior notification of the person concerned, where permissible.

7. Protection against retaliation

Retaliation against whistleblowers and against persons who support them is expressly prohibited under § 36 HinSchG. This includes in particular dismissal, transfer, disciplinary measures, discrimination and other detrimental acts.

A reversal of the burden of proof applies under § 36 (2) HinSchG: if a reporting person suffers a detriment after making a report, it is presumed that the detriment constitutes retaliation. Violations may give rise to labour-law and damages consequences (§ 37 HinSchG).

8. Further information

The Federal Office of Justice provides further information on the external reporting office of the Federation at https://www.bundesjustizamt.de. The European Commission provides information on whistleblower protection at https://commission.europa.eu/aid-development-cooperation-fundamental-rights/your-rights-eu/whistleblowers-protection_en.