Adjudication Problems of the National Appeals Chamber

Abstract

The article is of a scientific and research nature and presents concisely the problems related with the case law of the National Appeals Chamber (Pol. Krajowa Izba Odwoławcza). On 5 December 2007, the National Appeals Chamber was established, also referred to as the Chamber, which replaced Arbitrator Teams in hearing the appeals. Each year, the Chamber issues a total of 2,500 to 3,000 judgments, which are essentially the fundamental pillar of the functioning of the public procurement system. The adjudication difficulties that have arisen over the years and remain valid are: vagueness of the legal regulations, lack of transitional provisions, frequent law amendments, unusual speed of proceedings and, above all, marginal instance review of the decisions of the Chamber. However, judicial uniformity has been achieved on several important issues, thanks to resolutions passed by the Supreme Court. It was concluded that the determination of the gross price in the tender, taking into account the incorrect rate of tax on goods and services, constitutes an error in the calculation of the price if there are no statutory conditions for a mistake The ground for an appeal against the choice of the most advantageous tender may also include failure to exclude an economic operator who has submitted a tender chosen by the contracting entity or failure to reject a tender that is subject to rejection. The Supreme Court ruled that if a tender is submitted by a consortium, the correctness of the bid bond in the form of an insurance guarantee would be determined by the content of the guarantee. Uniformity of case law may be ensured by the appointment of a single court having jurisdiction in public procurement matters at second instance. It would also be helpful to organise specialist training at the highest substantive level.