Article

Abandoning existing procurements without contract award

The current global Covid-19 pandemic has thrown into sharp relief the legality of abandoning existing procurements without proceeding to contract award. This may be relevant to contracting authorities for reasons including; a sudden drop in demand for certain services or products, re-allocation of tight budgets to emergency spending, and pausing procurement where it is expedient to start afresh in future in view of anticipated shifts in pricing and supply. This article addresses alternatives to abandonment and the leading cases on abandonment, as well as providing practical guidance based on the case law, in particular in a Covid-19 world.

You can read Philippe Kuhn's full post on our Commercial, Construction & International Arbitration Blog here.