Public sector

We provide comprehensive legal and advisory services in the wide-ranging public sector field, namely to public administration bodies and their partners. Our clients include contracting authorities, recipients and providers of subsidies, Czech and foreign providers and suppliers of services to the public sector and participants to administrative proceedings. We standardly represent clients in proceedings conducted by the Office for the Protection of Competition, tax authorities, building authorities and other public authorities, and also in judicial proceedings. Our specialised team of experts in the Czech Republic and Slovakia deals with all legal areas relating to the public sector, including the compensation of damage caused by mismanagement of official affairs or by an unlawful decision issued by a public authority.

Why select us?

• a specialised team of 25 lawyers for this practice area, located in 6 offices
• more than 160 projects completed over the past three years
• experience with and high expertise in all types of procurement proceedings
• specialisation in and detailed knowledge of the relevant market segments (IT and telecommunications, construction and project design work, technology deliveries, professional consultation services)
• unique referrals from governmental pilot PPP projects and regional PPP projects implemented in the Czech Republic and Slovakia
• winner of the Law Firm of the Year award in the Public Procurement category in 2009, 2011 and 2016 and regularly ranked as a highly recommended law firm in this category
• active participation in the team of experts at the Ministry for Regional Development dealing with amendments to the Public Procurement Act and the recodification of the public building law
• active membership in professional associations: the Public Procurement Association (AVZ), the Infrastructure Development Association (ARI), and the Platform for Transparent Public Procurement
• excellent knowledge of and experience with legislation; direct link to public administration including representation in the Government’s Legislative Council and in the Czech Bar Association’s public law commission
• a team of specialists who have held management positions in public administration, including a former deputy to several ministers, heads of departments at the Office for the Protection of Competition, and a senior lawyer at the European Commission
• ties with the academic circles thanks to lecturing at the Department of Administrative Law and Administrative Science, Faculty of Law, Charles University, Prague
• experience with authorities and in pushing through projects across the political spectrum, throughout the Czech Republic

Our services

Public contracts from the perspective of the contracting authority and the supplier

• consultations relating to the tendering process on the basis of best practices, recommending a suitable strategy to satisfy the contracting authority’s needs and to create contractual relationships with suppliers, utilisation of preliminary market consultations and innovative approaches
• comprehensive organization of tender procedures or selected consultations during their process, including representation and assistance in proceedings before the Office for the Protection of Competition, the Public Procurement Office, and administrative courts
• review of standard template public procurement documentation
• assessment of public procurement contracts (as part of a due diligence) in terms of invalidation risks
• review and practical set-up of internal public procurement rules
• all-inclusive preparation and completion or a partial review of bids, including the coordination of many entities filing a joint bid, where applicable
• preparation of statements of objections and proposals for the Office for the Protection of Competition, or the Public Procurement Office, and representation before courts
• advice in relation to the competition rules in public procurement (bid rigging)

EU fund subsidies

• for subsidy providers – thorough inspections of subsidising from the perspective of legal regulations and specific operational programme rules
• for subsidy recipients – assistance in the tendering process, procedural defence in the event of reduction of subsidies due to a breach of programme rules

State aid

• advice to providers and recipients of state aid and their competitors contesting illegal aid at the European Commission as well as at Czech courts

PPPs and concessions

• legal analyses of utilisation of PPP projects and concessions
• comprehensive legal advice in relation to the implementation of PPP projects (award proceedings)

Specific types of advisory in the public sector

• advice and representation in disputes in connection with procedures pursuant to Act on free access to information
• advice in relation to the Register of Contracts
• advice and support to authorities of self-governing territorial units in connection with negotiations on relationships and projects pursuant to the Act on Municipalities, the Act on Regions and the Act on the Capital City of Prague

Legislation

• advice in connection with the law-making process
• drafting bills, proposals to oppose or amend a bill, intended subject matter of regulations, Regulatory Impact Assessment, Corruption Impact Assessment, drafting analyses and opinions regarding existing or forthcoming legal regulations
• support in promoting the legislation wording in all law-making stages
• participation in expert law-making groups and involvement in the comment procedure
• analysis and support in implementing the acquis into the Czech system of laws
• legislation monitoring
• compliance analysis, drafting internal guidelines and policies
• assessing compliance of regulations with the Constitution and the acquis

Administrative and constitutional law

• advice and representation in administrative proceedings
• advice and representation in administrative judicial proceedings
• advice on constitutional law matters and representation before the Constitutional Court
• preparing legal opinions and consultations in relation to relevant substantive and procedural provisions