Time limits for procurement claims - High Court ruling

On 29 March 2010, the High Court struck out a public procurement challenge by Sita UK Limited (Sita) on the basis that its action for damages had been brought outside the 3 month time limit from when Sita knew or ought to have known that there had been an infringement of the public procurement rules. Sita has been given leave to appeal this judgment.

This is the first reported case before the High Court in which the ECJ ruling in the Uniplex case has been applied. In Uniplex the ECJ held, inter alia, that the period of three months which the claimant has to raise an action cannot simply run from the date of the breach; rather, it begins from the date when the claimant knew, or ought to have known, of the breach. Click here to see previous law-now.