Belgium – Legal services – Raamcontract Juridische Dienstverlening - Overheidsopdrachten (incl. opleidingen)

Framework agreement for legal assistance and representation in relation to public contracts (including training). 1. Subject of the contract This framework agreement aims to appoint specialised legal service providers for legal support, advice and assistance in public contracts, for the benefit of the University of Antwerp and potential participants. Within a university and research context, public contracts are often placed in an environment characterised by innovative projects, specialised infrastructure and research activities, the future needs of which are not always fully predictable in advance. This requires an innovative legal application of public procurement legislation. The contract relates to public contracts for works, supplies and services, and concessions with particular attention to: • complex and strategic files; • files with increased legal or procedural risk; • files within a university and research context, including infrastructure and lab files; • disputes and procedures arising from public contracts; • targeted training and knowledge transfer. This contract concerns a contract for services in the sense of article 2, 21° of the Law of 17 June 2016 on public contracts and is placed under the form of a framework agreement in the sense of article 2, 35° of the same law. Pool of service providers The framework agreement will be concluded with a pool of 5 suppliers. The participants will or will not be put into competition again per subcontract. (see I.4 – Award criteria) All-in prices The indicated hourly rates are all-in rates (excl. VAT) and include all costs related to the service provision. Travel costs, administrative costs or other surcharges cannot be charged separately. 2. Substantive scope of the service provision The contractor provides specialised legal support in the field of public contracts. The service provision includes, but is not limited to, the following components. A. Legal support during placement (advisory and testing) The contractor provides legal support and advice to the contracting authority when placing public contracts, without taking over the role of the internal Procurement Service. This support may relate to, among other things: • legal advice on the choice and justification of the placement procedure (open, restricted, OVP, MPO, competitive dialogue, …); • legal screening and testing of documents drawn up by the contracting authority: o selection guidelines, o specifications, o award criteria and evaluation methods; • advice on: o delimitation and justification of lots, o framework contract structures, o purchasing centres and participants; • threshold analysis and testing against EU legislation, including risk analysis. Explicit delimitation The contract does not include the full outsourcing of tender files. The substantive coordination, decision-making and final responsibility remain at all times with the Procurement Service and/or the leading official of the contracting authority. B. Accompaniment during award and execution phase The contractor can provide legal support during the award and execution phase of public contracts, including: • legal screening of award reports; • advice on: o irregular or non-compliant tenders; o abnormally low or high prices; o conflicts of interest; • support during the execution, including: o changes to the contract (articles 38/1 et seq. Execution Decree); o price revision; o additional and reduced works; o sanctions, termination and liability. C. Disputes and procedures in relation to public contracts The contract includes legal assistance and, if necessary, representation in the context of disputes that directly relate to public contracts, both in the placement and execution phase. This service provision may relate to, among other things: • advice and support in the pre-contentious phase, including risk assessment, strategic advice and drafting of defence; • assistance and representation in procedures before the Council of State, including: o suspension procedures; o annulment procedures; o procedures in cases of extreme urgency; • judicial procedures that directly result from decisions on the placement or execution of public contracts. Judicial representation, including procedures before the Council of State, only takes place after prior, explicit and written agreement of the contracting authority. This framework agreement does not entail an automatic obligation to conduct procedures. D. Specific expertise: university and research context The contractor has demonstrable expertise in public contracts within a university and research environment, including: • infrastructure and construction projects; • laboratory environments (incl. special techniques, HVAC, gases, safety and compliance); • combination of works, supplies and services; • contracts within subsidised research projects; • collaboration with internal services such as Prevention, Environment, Safety and Research. E. Training and knowledge transfer The contractor can provide tailored training and information sessions for the contracting authority, including: • basic and advanced training on public contracts; • training on works and complex infrastructure files; • practice-oriented sessions for non-lawyers.