Public Procurement Research Group

The Law of Public and Utilties Procurement

Sue Arrowsmith
Sweet & Maxwell, 2005
ISBN: 9780421758506

Since the first edition the EC's directives on procurement have twice been extensively amended, and the trickle of cases of the early years of the directives has turned into a veritable torrent. There have also been important legal developments on the domestic front, including devolution, the Freedom of Information Act, and the local government legislation introducing Best Value (and abolishing CCT).

The text of this second edition has been almost completely rewritten, as well as greatly expanded, to deal with the extensive legal changes and interpretations, and also to analyse the legal implications of new practical developments. The book contains several entirely new chapters, including special new chapters devoted to competitive dialogue frameworks in the public sector and electronic procurement.

Contents:

  1. Introduction
  2. The Common Law and Statutory Framework
  3. EC Procurement Policy and its Implementation in National Law
  4. Procurement Under the EC Treaty
  5. The Public Sector Rules: Who is a Contracting Authority?
  6. The Public Sector Rules: Contracts Covered
  7. The Public Sector Rules: Open and Restricted Procedures
  8. The Public Sector Rules: Negotiated Procedure with a Notice
  9. The Public Sector Rules: Negotiated Procedure without a Notice
  10. The Public Sector Rules: Competitive Dialogue
  11. Framework Arrangements
  12. The Public Sector Rules: Qualification
  13. Information Provisions under the Public Sector Rules: PINs, Buyer-profiles, Debriefing, Award Notices, Reports and Statistics
  14. The Public Sector Rules: Special Procedures
  15. The Utilities Rules: Scope
  16. The Utilities Rules: Award Procedures
  17. The EC Rules on Specifications
  18. Electronic Procurement
  19. Industrial, Social and Environmental Concerns in Public Procurement
  20. Third-Country Relations
  21. Remedies and Enforcement  

Book Reviews:

"Sue Arrowsmith has done more than anyone else to establish public procurement as a separate legal discipline in the UK [and] she has influenced the development of EU policy on public procurement... Her [book] demonstrates the role that academics can play in helping a sound legal framework to emerge.... Here is an academic fully able to conduct and extend the academic discussion, while engaging productively with the world outside the academy..." This book offers a comprehensive analysis and critique of the law on public and utilities procurement in the UK and EC, in its economic and policy context. As with the first edition, it is an important feature of the book that the analysis is not limited to issues dealt with expressly in the legislation and the jurisprudence: a significant part of the work is devoted to developing an analytical framework for addressing "grey" areas, and outlining and assessing possible solutions."
Rosemary Boyle (Cambridge Law Journal)

"The Law of Public and Utilities Procurement must surely be the most comprehensive and authoritative textbook available on the subject.. It is to be hoped that the Commission and the UK legislator will take on board many of the findings of Professor Arrowsmith."

Fiona Carlin (European Competition Law Review)

“..there are several reasons to pay attention to the present book, one of them being that the author, Professor Sue Arrowsmith, is considered by many to be the leading academic in the field of EC public procurement…… One of its finest points is that it is not limited to issues dealt with expressly in the legislation and the case law, but also covers a wide range of the numerous “grey areas” in the very complex field of public procurement law. It thereby differentiates itself from many other books in the field…… Arrowsmith has written a great book – both literally and in a figurative sense”. 

Steen Treumer (Common Market Law Review)

“The literature on public procurement appears to be rather abundant and indeed there are numerous books that cover this subject rather superficially …... Good, comprehensive and analytic works, however, are rare if not missing altogether. The volume by Sue Arrowsmith, the eminent authority on public procurement law, clearly fills this gap. It is a masterpiece and is certainly the authoritative and exhaustive treatise on “The Law of Public and Utilities Procurement”…. This very impressive book is and probably will remain the standard treatise on public procurement law”. Hans-Joachim Priess (Public Procurement Law Review)

There have been numerous books published dealing with the procurement legislation developed by the European Community. Most of these have been lightweight legal textbooks…… In scope, breadth and intent this book stands head and shoulders above any other offering on the market”.

Colin Maund (Supply Management)

Public Procurement Research Group

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