B2Net’s application for an interim injunction is rejected by the courts.
Another example of the difficulties faced by unsuccessful bidders to convince the courts to suspend procurement processes was published in January.
The High Court rejected B2Net’s application for an interim injunction to prevent a contracting authority (OGC Buying Solutions) from continuing with a procurement exercise to award a framework agreement for IT products and services. It was found that (i) damages would be an adequate remedy and therefore the remedy of an injunction was not available. It considered that an injunction would cause disruption to the procurement procedure. The court noted in addition that B2Net had commenced proceedings relatively late after being in a position to establish the facts that were the foundation of its case and this would have been weighted against it, in the event that the court had been otherwise undecided. Further, the court considered the facts cited to demonstrate that the procurement breached the 2006 Regulations and the general EU principles of non-discrimination and transparency were weak even though they might have raised a serious issue to be tried.
