New Debarment Grounds From Public Tendering Procedures In Malta

Key Takeaways

• The procedure for debarment of an economic operator from public tenders was complemented in 2015 with a focus on breaches of Maltese labour law
• The amendments mainly affect economic operators who are based in Malta or who are subject to Maltese labour law
• The Commercial Sanctions Tribunal (set up in September 2015) is to decide whether to exclude an economic operator following an adversarial procedure
• Debarment period varies from 6 months to 3 years
• All existing public contracts are terminated immediately upon debarment

Introduction

The Malta Public Procurement Regulations (the 'Regulations') lists grounds which either require (mandatory) or alternatively permit (discretionary) contracting authorities to exclude an economic operator from participation in public tenders. Mandatory grounds include conviction of the economic operator for participation in a criminal organisation, corruption, fraud and money laundering.