In an article published in Le Moniteur magazine, Ludovic Babin, Partner, and Marie Paquier, Counsel in the Public Contracts Department, analyze the importance of anticipating the risk of bias in the context of the award of public contracts.

The obligation of impartiality is a general principle of law which is imposed on all public purchasers, and in particular on tender committees (CAO).

Insofar as it constitutes a breach of the obligations of advertising and competitive bidding, the lack of impartiality now pollutes the courts, as it is invoked almost systematically by all rejected candidates, This is the case in the recent decision of the Conseil d’Etat, Sté Corsica Networks (CE, 7ème et 2ème réunies, 25 novembre 2021, Sté Corsica Networks, n°454466).

The lack of impartiality now poses inextricable problems for public purchasers regarding the composition and organization of CAOs, the relations of elected officials with the business world, and the choice of “project management assistants” (AMO).

To read the article, click here