To what extent does the new law relating to public procurements in Saudi Arabia extend more effective rights and protections to contractors?

Abstract

Governments around the world spend a considerable sum of money on building or maintaining public services such as health care, education and transportation. It is believed that government procurements account for 13% to 16% of the GDP. For example, EU spending's on public procurements represent 13.5% of GDP. Therefore, the issue of government contracts receives great attention from scholars and administrative courts because of its great importance. The importance of this issue lies in preserving public money, achieving public interest, and running public services. Therefore, the public authority is not allowed to purchase freely. The public authority is obliged to follow certain procedures in the act of purchasing goods or services from the private sector. Public procurements laws illustrate the process that the public authority must go through. Public procurement laws usually give the public body a stronger position in the contract because it is protecting the public interest. For example, these laws give the public authority the right to modify the contract or impose penalties on the contractor. On the other hand, the contractor is in a weaker position when compared with the public authority. However, these laws try to strike the balance between protecting the public interest and protecting the contractors' interest as it is known that companies aim to make profit and increase their capital. However, do public procurement laws extend effective rights and protections to contractors? This dissertation will examine the position of the contractor in public procurement laws in Saudi Arabia. The dissertation argues that the new Saudi law relating to public procurements extends more protections and rights to contractors especially with regard to the right of reobtain the financial balance and adopting the theories related to this right in the new law.