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Welcome Catherine Allen Partner, Public & Administrative Law
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Speakers and topics
Brian Murray Senior Counsel Topic – When procurement goes wrong Robert McDonagh Partner, Commercial Topic – Why procurement goes wrong
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When procurement goes wrong Brian Murray Senior Counsel
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• The provision of adequate reasons
• The importance of a complete debrief
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Avoiding litigation
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• Commercial Court
• Lifting the suspension
• Security for costs
• Raising the time bar
• Striking out part of the claim
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The initiation of Court proceedings
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• Preparing affidavits
• Instruction of technical experts
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The formulation of the authority’s response
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• Relevance of discovery to pleading the case
• Privilege
• Discovery of confidential information
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Discovery
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• Format
• Cross examination of deponents
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The hearing
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• Damages
• Injunctive relief
• Declaring contract ineffective
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Remedies
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Why procurement goes wrong
Robert McDonagh Partner, Commercial Mason Hayes & Curran
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• No procurement / misclassification
• Procedural breach of legislation
• Unlawful requirements or evaluation criteria
• Failure to do what tender documents say
• Unlawful clarifications / amendments
• Breach of EU principles
• Merits
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How to challenge a tender
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• Time is normally on the contracting authority’s side
• strategic disclosures can be used to deal with thorny issues
• tight timelines can result in higher risk of challenge if don’t
take steps to calm things down
• But not always: Forum Connemara
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Time is important
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• Minimum pre-qual. pass / fail requirements
• proportionate (2 * contract value?)
• non-discriminatory
• clear and unambigous (e.g. timeline)
• Performance requirements / spec
• make clear what is and is not mandatory
• neutral / “or equivalent”
• non-discriminatory: local performance requirements: Grupo
Hospitalario (C-552/13)
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Requirements
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• Distinction between selection and award
• past vs future
• When looking at experience at award stage:
• limit to tender team?
• link to quality
• don’t evaluate at pre-qualification?
Ambisig C-601/13
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Evaluation criteria: selection vs award
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• Make sure:
• capable of one meaning only: Clinton
• no overlap between criteria
• Better to weight sub-criteria etc
• Use marking scheme for consistency
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Evaluation criteria
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• Don’t award marks for meeting:
• mandatory specification
• other minimum requirements
• Evaluate price in framework competition
• Disclose price formula
• how many decimals?
• exclude non-compliant tenders
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Evaluation criteria
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• Specific question for each specific criterion
• Don’t ask for irrelevant information
• Remember: misapplication may only become apparent at
debrief
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Evaluation criteria
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• Criteria not related to what you’re buying
• Discriminatory
• Not capable of verification – Public Interest Lawyers / EVN
• Unfettered choice
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Evaluation: unlawful criteria
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• No general duty to clarify: SAG
• Correction or amplification permitted:
• on a limited and specific basis - exceptional
• particularly if clear require mere clarification or to correct
obvious material errors
SAG (C-599/10)
• Particulars / information (e.g. published balance sheet) that
pre-date deadline: Manova C-336/12
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Clarifications permitted
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• Cannot be made until looked at all tenders
• Sent in equivalent manner to all tenderers in same situation
• Cover all sections which require clarification
• Must not lead to what is in reality a new tender
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Clarifications
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• Prohibited if :
• tender is imprecise or doesn’t meet tech. requirements
• tender provides omission will result in exclusion
• tender contains deliberate qualification?
SAG / CEM Ambiente (C-42/13) / Manova C-336/12 / Turning Point / Clinton
• Cannot disregard mandatory requirements even in
negotiated procedure: Nordecon C-561/12
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Clarifications prohibited
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• Duty to clarify if:
• error is clear
• error known to contracting authority
• correct content clear from tender
• error does not affect merits
Tideland (T-211/02) / Jones / Harrow I Adia Interim
• Possibly also where error due to contracting authority’s fault
• May arise in other cases
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Clarifications required
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• Difficult to apply in practice
• Be careful
• Generally safer not to clarify, but:
• not really practical
• not always!
• Draft broad right of clarification
• Act consistently
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Clarifications
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• Award marks based on:
• criteria
• tender submitted
• Record reasons contemporaneously
• Assume all records may be discovered
• Get no conflicts declaration: eVigilo (C-538/13)
• Do not introduce new weightings, sub-criteria etc
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Evaluation – the evaluation
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• Common cause of challenges
• Use comments from evaluation record
• Match comments to evaluation criteria (including sub-
criteria) and requirements
• Provide scores, narrative, winner’s name and standstill
• Price? Veloss T-667/11
• Double check before you send
• Written debrief preferable
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Debrief
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• Happens all the time, but no one knows!
• Future proof the contract
• right to extend
• options
• clear and precise change clause
• Strategic disclosure, VEAT or say nothing?
• Fastweb Case C-19/13
• Indemnity / right to terminate?
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Contract changes
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• Check tender terms
• Normally safer to reject, unless delay’s your fault
• Leadbitter / Azam
• Evropaïki Dynamiki (T-70/05 )
• BAM?
• Include clear instructions for submission
• e-tenders
• directions
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Late tenders
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• Handle with care!
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Abnormally low tenders
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• Think before you speak
• Get advice
• Act quickly but prudently
• Consider options, e.g.:
• better debrief / engagement
• terminate and re-run process / stage
• independent review
• Don’t sign contract without thinking first (right to terminate)
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When things go wrong
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Questions Questions
Robert McDonagh Partner Mason Hayes & Curran t: +353 1 614 5077 m: + 353 86 608 4964 e: [email protected]
@mhclawyers