Article 53 - Review by procuring entity (or by approving authority)

(1) Unless the procurement contract has already entered into force, a complaint shall, in the first instance, be submitted in writing to the head of the procuring entity. (However, if the complaint is based on an act or decision of, or procedure followed by, the procuring entity, and that act, decision or procedure was approved by an authority pursuant to this Law, the complaint shall instead be submitted to the head of the authority that approved the act, as the case may be.)

(2) The head of the procuring entity (or of the approving authority) shall not entertain a complaint, unless it was submitted within 20 days of when the supplier or contractor submitting it became aware of the circumstances giving rise to the complaint or of when that supplier or contractor should have become aware of those circumstances, whichever is earlier.

(3) The head of the procuring entity (or of the approving authority) need not entertain a complaint, or continue to entertain a complaint, after the procurement contract has entered into force.

(4) Unless the complaint is resolved by mutual agreement of the supplier or contractor that submitted it and the procuring entity, the head of the procuring entity (or of the approving authority) shall, within 30 days after the submission of the complaint, issue a written decision. The decision shall:

(a) state the reasons for the decision; and

(b) if the complaint is upheld in whole or in part, indicate the corrective measures that are to be taken.

(5) If the head of the procuring entity (or of the approving authority) does not issue a decision by the time specified in paragraph (4) of this article, the supplier or contractor submitting the complaint (or the procuring entity) is entitled immediately thereafter to institute proceedings under article [54 or 57]. Upon the institution of such proceedings, the competence of the head of the procuring entity (or of the approving authority) to entertain the complaint ceases.

(6) The decision of the head of the procuring entity (or of the approving authority) shall be final unless proceedings are instituted under article [54 or 57].

(1) A supplier or contractor entitled under article 52 to seek review may submit a complaint to [insert name of administrative body]:

(a) if the complaint cannot be submitted or entertained under article 53 because of the entry into force of the procurement contract, and provided that the complaint is submitted within 20 days after the earlier of the time when the supplier or contractor submitting it became aware of the circumstances giving rise to the complaint or the time when that supplier or contractor should have become aware of those circumstances;

(b) if the head of the procuring entity does not entertain the complaint because the procurement contract has entered into force, provided that the complaint is submitted within 20 days after the issuance of the decision not to entertain the complaint;

(c) pursuant to article 53 (5), provided that the complaint is submitted within 20 days after the expiry of the period referred to in article 53 (4); or

(d) if the supplier or contractor claims to be adversely affected by a decision of the head of the procuring entity (or of the approving authority) under article 53, provided that the complaint is submitted within 20 days after the issuance of the decision.

(2) Upon receipt of a complaint, the [insert name of administrative body] shall give notice of the complaint promptly to the procuring entity (or to the approving authority).

(3) The [insert name of administrative body] may [grant] [recommend]  ⁴  one or more of the following remedies, unless it dismisses the complaint:

(a) declare the legal rules or principles that govern the subject-matter of the complaint;

(b) prohibit the procuring entity from acting or deciding unlawfully or from following an unlawful procedure;

(c) require the procuring entity that has acted or proceeded in an unlawful manner, or that has reached an unlawful decision, to act or to proceed in a lawful manner or to reach a lawful decision;

(d) annul in whole or in part an unlawful act or decision of the procuring entity, other than any act or decision bringing the procurement contract into force;

(e) revise an unlawful decision by the procuring entity or substitute its own decision for such a decision, other than any decision bringing the procurement contract into force;

(f) require the payment of compensation for

Option I

any reasonable costs incurred by the supplier or contractor submitting the complaint in connection with the procurement proceedings as a result of an unlawful act or decision of, or procedure followed by, the procuring entity;

Option II

loss or injury suffered by the supplier or contractor submitting the complaint in connection with the procurement proceedings;

(g) order that the procurement proceedings be terminated.

(4) The [insert name of administrative body] shall within 30 days issue a written decision concerning the complaint, stating the reasons for the decision and the remedies granted, if any.

(5) The decision shall be final unless an action is commenced under article 57.