Joakim Lavér and Olof Larsberger of Hannes Snellman Attorneys Ltd discuss the advantages and disadvantages of relative evaluation models in public and utilities procurement.

The question of the scope of procedural obligations applying to the award of contracts falling within Annex IIB of Directive 2004/18 (Annex XVIIB of Directive 2004/17) has been the subject of much academic and judicial comment, but recent case law from the Court of Justice has helped shed some light on the topic.

The International Who's Who of Public Procurement Lawyers has brought together three of the leading practitioners in world to discuss key issues facing lawyers today.

For a long time, the risks associated with a breach of public procurement legislation in the UK were considered limited – and with good reason, as it used to be the case that once a contract was concluded it could not normally be set aside, so the only remedy available to an aggrieved party was damages.

The recent 2010 Canada-US Agreement on Government Procurement (Canada-US AGP) is a ground-breaking development in government procurement in North America. For the first time, the provinces in Canada have agreed to be covered by an international trade agreement on government procurement.

Building on the research from the previous two editions of this publication, Who’s Who Legal analyses votes and interviews from clients and private practitioners the world over to establish a picture of recent trends and developments in public procurement law.

In this section we analyse the findings of our research in greater depth to identify the firms and practitioners who stand out worldwide.

Our research has revealed 307 lawyers in 51 jurisdictions who can be considered experts in this field and some of the leaders are highlighted here.

When we think of contracting parties in the acquisition of goods and services, our thoughts turn to the private sector, to the doctrines of freedom and privity of contract. The government is not traditionally the consumer that springs to mind.

This book is a response to the increasing volume of public procurement work being done internationally in recent years and its growing importance to lawyers and firms.

This publication marks Who's Who Legal's first investigation of the global public procurement market and lists 247 practitioners from 56 countries.