Kuwait Court of Cassation principle number 517

Summary: - Deciding on bids submitted in tenders and awarding the tender to the most suitable thereof. This is for the Central Tenders Committee, which awards the tender to the tenderer who submitted the lowest total price if its bid conforms to the tender requirements. Awarding the tender to a tenderer who submitted a higher price. Permissible for the Tenders Committee if the lowest tenderers are unreasonably low and do not inspire confidence in the progress of the work; it must then refer the matter to the Council of Ministers to issue its decision thereon. - In cases of urgency, and with the approval of two-thirds of its members, the Tenders Committee may accept the sole bid, which is considered such even if accompanied by other bids that fail to comply with the conditions or are incomplete so as to render them unfit for consideration. Rule: The import of Articles (1), (22), (43), (44), and (48) of the aforementioned Law No. 37 of 1964 concerning Public Tenders is that the legislature entrusted the Central Tenders Committee with deciding on bids submitted in tenders and awarding the tender to the most suitable bid, in accordance with the procedures set out in that Law. It also required tenderers to submit their bids complete in all respects according to the conditions set out in the tender documents. The Committee awards the tender to the tenderer who submitted the lowest total price if its bid conforms to the tender requirements. The legislature permitted the Committee to award the tender to a tenderer who submitted a higher price if the prices of the lowest tenderers are unreasonably low and do not inspire confidence in the progress of the work. In this case, the Committee does not refer the matter to the Council of Ministers. However, if the Committee considers that there is justification for preferring the bid of a tenderer who submitted a higher price over another bid satisfying the conditions, it must refer the matter to the Council of Ministers to issue its decision thereon. The legislature also permitted the Committee, in cases of urgency—and with the approval of two-thirds of its members—to accept the sole bid, which is considered such even if accompanied by other bids whenever they fail to comply with the conditions or are incomplete so as to render them unfit for consideration.