Direktupphandling vid synnerlig brådska – är det flexibla förfarandet rättssäkert?

Sammanfattning: Public procurement concerns how the public sector should act when making purchases and therefore has a great impact on the national economy. Fundamental societal functions such as healthcare and education are supported through public procurement. Because these purchases are made using tax revenue, citizens have an interest in ensuring that the procedure is conducted properly. Moreover, suppliers have an interest in making sure that the procedure is legally certain since a contract award decision leads to a large revenue. Direct award is an exception from the usual procurement process that is significantly faster and more flexible than the ordinary process. There are almost no formal requirements for a direct award. The purpose of direct award is to make quick purchases possible for procurements of lower values. Direct award may be applied in some specific situations whereof one is in case of exceptional urgency. Direct award in case of exceptional urgency may be used when it is not possible to follow the deadlines that apply to other procurement proceedings. If a contracting authority acts in violence of procurement rules, suppliers may apply for an appeal of the contract award decision and the Swedish Competition Authority may apply for a procurement fine. The purpose of this thesis is to research the regulations regarding direct award in case of exceptional urgency and to what extent contracting authorities can use this exception. Additionally, the thesis aims to examine whether the procedure for direct award in case of exceptional urgency is legally certain. Furthermore, the thesis intends to analyse the process from a de lege ferenda perspective. In the thesis it is asserted that the scope of direct award in case of exceptional urgency is narrow but unclear. It requires extraordinary circumstances and the need must be immediate. Additionally, it is stated in the thesis that the legal certainty of the procedure for direct award in case of exceptional urgency is inadequate. This due to the low predictability of the procedure and the difficulty in applying control functions. Finally, it is declared in the thesis that increased legal certainty can be fulfilled by imposing more requirements such as mandatory publication of a contract notice or a requirement for the Swedish Competition Authority to apply for procurement fine in all cases of illegal direct award of contract.