Automatic Suspension in Public Procurement - Recent Case Law and the Updated Procurement Act 2023

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 also look at how the Procurement Act 2023 affects the automatic suspension, including how and when it is triggered and the new (and subtly different) test for when it may be lifted by the court.

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 Act 2023 will change about automatic suspensions

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Monday 24th February 2025

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