Special appeal, judicial review and State liability: fifteen working days
Nextica Law & Tax defends the company once the decision is made: the special procurement appeal under arts. 44 ff. of Law 9/2017 against tender documents, exclusions and awards, within fifteen working days and free of charge, before the Central Administrative Tribunal for Contractual Appeals or the Catalan Public Sector Contracts Tribunal; then judicial review under Law 29/1998; and the State liability claim under art. 32 of Law 40/2015 where the harm was caused by the administrative action itself.
The special appeal window is fifteen working days, and it does not extend because you were still gathering documents.
What's included
1. Dating the notification and calculating the deadline, which comes first and decides whether there is a case at all: the special appeal runs for fifteen working days and does not extend.
2. Choosing the route
special appeal before the relevant administrative tribunal, ordinary administrative appeal, or straight to judicial review depending on the act and the contracting authority.
3. Requesting access to the file and analysing the winning bid, which is where the real ground of appeal appears rather than the one you assumed.
4. Drafting the appeal with suspension requested and reasoned where the award is challenged, so that winning actually achieves something.
5. Following the interim measures incident and the submissions of the authority and the successful bidder.
6. Where the harm has already occurred
a State liability claim with an expert report quantifying it, within the one-year period the law allows.
7. Continuing into judicial review once administrative remedies are exhausted, with the evidence already built from the first submission.
THREE DEADLINES THAT DO NOT FORGIVE
In administrative matters the merits are rarely even reached once the deadline has passed. These are the costliest:
Fifteen working days for the special appeal, counted from notification. It does not extend because you were still gathering documents, and once it lapses the act becomes final even if it was unlawful.
arts. 44 ff. Law 9/2017Appealing without requesting suspension
filing an administrative appeal does not by itself suspend enforcement of the act. If the contract is formalised and performed, winning the appeal arrives too late.
Law 39/2015One year to claim for State liability, counted from the event or from when the harmful effect becomes apparent, not from when you learn who was at fault.
art. 32 Law 40/2015Frequently asked questions
Does the special appeal cost money?
There is no fee, and that is one reason to use it: it is free, it is decided in weeks rather than years, and it is decided by a specialised administrative tribunal —the Central Administrative Tribunal for Contractual Appeals or, where the contracting authority is Catalan, the Catalan Public Sector Contracts Tribunal. What is more, where the award is what is challenged, filing the appeal prevents the contract from being formalised while it is decided. That is what makes winning the appeal worth something: if the contract were already signed and running, being right would arrive too late.
How long do I have to claim for harm caused by a public authority?
The State liability claim under art. 32 of Law 40/2015 follows the procedure of Law 39/2015 and has a one-year limit, counted from the event or from when the harmful effect becomes apparent, not from when you learn who was at fault. The hard part is almost never the deadline: it is evidencing the link between the administrative action and harm that is actual, economically assessable and individualised, and that there was no legal duty to bear it. An expert report quantifying the harm usually decides the file.
Let's talk about your company.
Tell us your situation and we'll reply within 24 working hours.