This widened scope has the potential to widen the categories of documents that may be deemed relevant to the proceedings. The Court acknowledged that while procurement proceedings bear similarities to judicial review proceedings, the standard or review and scope of the remedies available to the Court are potentially wider. The Court considered whether special rules for discovery should be applied in procurement law proceedings. Principles to be applied to discovery in procurement law proceedings However, the Court made clear that, by virtue of general principles of EU law, Member States must ensure both an effective remedy and procedures equivalent to those which would be involved in similar national law litigation. The Court accepted that EU law does not require any particular regime for the disclosure of materials and as such EU Member States enjoy procedural autonomy in this regard.

Word Perfect was subsequently granted leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.ĭiscovery in the context of vindicating EU rightsĪt the outset, the Court acknowledged a potential EU law dimension to the issues which arose. The Minister appealed to the Court of Appeal which overturned the decision of the High Court in its entirety. The High Court granted discovery of nine categories of documents sought by Word Perfect.

Word Perfect claimed that there were errors in the conduct of the tendering process. The case related to a challenge by Word Perfect to a decision to award a contract for the provision of translation services for An Garda Síochána to a rival tenderer. The Supreme Court judgment provides helpful guidance on the principles to be applied to discovery in procurement cases and proposes a new approach for dealing with discovery so that there is a speedy resolution of the proceedings. In Word Perfect Translation Services Limited v Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, the Supreme Court (per Clarke CJ) handed down an important judgment in respect of discovery in procurement cases. Supreme Court outlines a Proposed Approach for Discovery in Procurement Cases - Word Perfect Translation Services Limited v Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, judgment of the Supreme Court of 25 September 2020

Word perfect 2020