S.L. 601.3 Art. 277Ineffectivenessof contract.

(1) An interested party or a tenderer may file an a application before the Public Contracts Review Board to declare that a contract with an estimated value which meets or exceeds the threshold established under Schedule 5 is ineffective.

(2) An interested party may only request the Public Contracts Review Board to declare a signed contract ineffective if the authority responsible for the tendering process has awarded a contract without prior publication of a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union without this being permissible in accordance with Directive 2014/23/EC, Directive 2014/24/EC and Directive 2014/25/EC.

(3) Any tenderer may also request the Public Contracts Review Board to declare a contract ineffective in the following two instances:

(a) when, notwithstanding an appeal is lodged before the Public Contracts Review Board, the authority responsible for the tendering process concludes the contract before a final decision is given by the Public Contracts Review Board; or

(b) when the contract is concluded by a contracting authority or the authority responsible for the tendering process before the expiry of the period for the filing of an appeal as provided for in regulation 271.

(4) The provisions of sub-regulation (2) shall not apply where:

(a) the authority responsible for the tendering process or the contracting authority considers that the award of a contract without prior publication of a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union is permissible in accordance with Directive 2014/24/EC and Directive 2014/25/EC;

(b) the authority responsible for the tendering process or the contracting authority has published in the Official Journal of the European Union a notice as described in Article 3a of Directive 89/665 or Article 3a of Directive 92/13 expressing its intention to conclude the contract, and;

(c) the contract has not been concluded before the expiry of a period of at least ten calendar days with effect from the day following the date of the publication of this notice.

(5) An interested party or a bidder cannot proceed before a court or tribunal to challenge an award or a lack of award of a call for tender processed according to these regulations and they cannot ask for damages unless they have first resorted to all the remedies afforded under these regulations.