Ethics, Institutional Integrity and Community Coexistence Mailbox

ETHICS, INSTITUTIONAL INTEGRITY AND COMMUNITY COEXISTENCE MAILBOX

The UB's Ethics, Institutional Integrity and Community Coexistence Mailbox is a secure communication channel intended to ensure and strengthen a culture of respect for differing perspectives among the university community and to guarantee a framework of institutional integrity in accordance with the principles of ethical conduct and standards of good governance.

What is its purpose?

To guarantee a secure internal communication channel between informants and the institution.
To provide effective protection for informants and facilitate and ensure secure, smooth communication.
To encourage the entire UB community to comply with standards on ethics and institutional integrity.
To foster and improve good governance and promote good practices in the ethical public management of the UB.
To facilitate communication regarding matters related to the regulations governing community coexistence applicable to the University.

What can be reported?

Reports can be submitted regarding conduct, actions and omissions by the bodies, services and individuals that make up the University of Barcelona in the course of their activities.
Actions and omissions can also be reported in relation to:
- Service providers within the scope of their contracted services.
- Recipients of UB subsidies or grants.
- Organizations, entities and associations in the UB Group that agree to take part in the Ethics Mailbox system.
Reports must contain implications concerning matters of ethics, community coexistence and integrity beyond mere administrative failings or problems that are purely personal or employment-related.
Reports regarding serious or very serious breaches of European Union criminal or administrative law in occupational or professional matters must be channelled through the whistleblowing and fraud prevention mailbox.
Reports must specify facts and circumstances in sufficient detail to facilitate the identification of the action or omission reported.
Any conduct that is unlawful or in breach of norms and principles of ethics or standards of good governance must be described in as much detail as possible, and supporting documentation or evidence must be provided.
Information identifying the informant is optional.

How does it work?

Anyone can submit a report via the Ethics, Institutional Integrity and Community Coexistence Mailbox, whether or not they belong to the UB, regardless of their professional or contractual relationship or any other type of relationship with the University.
Reports may be anonymous and are confidential. The informant will not be subject to either personal or professional reprisals or adverse consequences, provided that the facts reported are plausible and that the informant is acting in good faith.
All reports will be examined unless they are clearly unfounded, in which case the report will be disregarded and the case closed.
Confidentiality is guaranteed in the processing of reports. This does not exclude the disclosure of information to courts and tribunals that request it for legal purposes or to the Prosecutor’s Office for the purposes of its investigations.
The Mailbox ensures that information is exhaustive, reliable and confidential. Only parties directly responsible for processing a report may access it unless express consent is given by the informant.
Under no circumstances do reports submitted to the Ethics, Institutional Integrity and Community Coexistence Mailbox imply the start of administrative proceedings, nor are they considered to have been submitted to the UB General Registry.
The informant does not have the same rights as the interested parties in an administrative procedure, and is not considered to have made a submission to the UB General Registry. Similarly, reports do not constitute a right to petition or right of access, nor do they have the status of queries, suggestions or incidents.

How do you submit a report?

Reports must be submitted online, using the mailbox management app.

In the report, the informant can request a face-to-face meeting with the Mailbox management body. In this case the report cannot be anonymous.

The Ethics Mailbox management app generates a random registration code to facilitate the exchange of information with the informant.

It is imperative for the informant to save the randomly generated registration code. This code is the only way for the informant to communicate with the Ethics and Integrity mailbox.

How are reports processed?

To be accepted, reports must contain sufficient reliable information for the conduct in question to be identified. Reports that are unsubstantiated, clearly false or based exclusively on opinions will not be accepted.
Confirmation of the submission of the report is issued within ten working days from the date on which it is received. The month of August and the days on which the University is closed are not considered working days.
Reports involving matters that are not related to ethics, integrity or community coexistence will be referred to other units of the UB.
Normally, a final response to the report must be issued within four months of the confirmation of receipt (or up to six months, when the case is exceptionally complex and there are good reasons for the delay).

Notes and key concepts

See the Notes and key concepts.

Resolved cases

Summary of resolved cases (XLSX file, updated: 07/10/2024)

GO TO THE MAILBOX

A registration code is randomly generated upon submission of each report.
It is important to save this code because it is the only way to communicate with the Ethics and Integrity mailbox.