Automatic Suspension in Public Procurement - Lessons Learned from Recent Case Law

Introduction

Bringing a court action against a procurement where the contract has not yet been awarded will result in the automatic suspension of the authority's ability to enter into it, protecting the challenger's chance at winning the contract but presenting the authority with a serious headache and the winner with significant uncertainty.

In this webinar we consider recent cases on automatic suspension including Medequip v Kensington and Chelsea and Boxxe Limited v Secretary of State, and what they can tell us about how the courts will approach the tricky question of when to leave the automatic suspension in place and when to lift it.

We will consider what this means for potential challengers and authorities defending challenges, as well as what changes the Procurement Bill will make to this key element of any procurement challenge.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• Recent case law on the American Cyanimid test for lifting the automatic suspension, including how the courts approach the balance of convenience and adequacy of damages
• What claimants and defendants can do to maximise their chances of success in an application to lift
• What the Procurement Bill will change about automatic suspensions

This webinar was recorded on 3rd October 2023

You can gain access to this webinar and 1,700+ others via the MBL Webinar Subscription. Please email webinarsubscription@mblseminars.com for more details.