In its judgment no. 384 of March 11, 2023, Sec. V of the Council of State ruled on an issue that is rather common in the field of public tenders : the contracting authority either annuls the entire tender procedure as a matter of self-defense, or does not award the tender to the runner-up on the basis of the unsuitability of the bid and unsuitability in relation to the new procurement needs despite the ruling of the Administrative Judge that annuls an award decision and simultaneously sanctions the need to scroll through the ranking list in favor of the second-classified bidder.
In other words, the administration does not follow up on the judge’s decisum by invoking – in its favor – the power under Article 95, paragraph 12 of the Public Contracts Code (legislative decree no. 50/2016), according to which: “contracting authorities may decide to refrain from awarding a contract if no bid is convenient or suitable in relation to the subject matter of the contract.”
