1. OFFICE FOR THE PROTECTION OF COMPETITION
is a central state administrative authority responsible for protecting competition, based in Brno
it is conceived as a two-stage administrative authority
the Chairman of the Office is appointed and recalled by the President of the Republic at the proposal of the Government
the Chairman is appointed for six-year-term service, and may be reelected once
the Chairman of the Office is represented by 3 Vice-Presidents

2. The main areas of competence of the Office
protecting competition
public procurement
significant market power
coordination and consultancy
in the field of state aid

3. Organisation structure as at 31 December 2016
employee structure
the total number of employees as at 31 December 2016 was 244 (+ Chairman of the Office)
by division

4. Organisation structure

5. Total number of first-instance proceedings initiated

6. Public procurement legislation historically
Act No. 199/1994 Coll., On Public Procurement
Act No. 40/2004 Coll., On Public Procurement
Act No. 137/2006 Coll., On Public Procurement
Act No. 134/2016 Coll. on Public Procurement - effective from 1 October transposes current directives on public procurement and concessions

7. the contracting authority's obligation to decide within 15 days
Supplier's objections
supplier's ability to object to the tendering procedure in the award procedure
the necessity to submit them within a 15-day period from the day they learned of the alleged violation of the law
they must indicate what the alleged violation of the law is, what the applicant is claiming and what is the risk of harm to the complainant
the contracting authority's obligation to decide within 15 days

8. The dispute is often about whether the objections were filed in time
„At the stage of selecting the most appropriate bid, it is no longer possible to call into question the content of the procurement documents, since this stage is devoted to the selection of the most suitable bid which is either the most economically advantageous one or offers the lowest price. At this stage of the award procedure, the content of the terms of reference must have already been clearly and unambiguously identified; for these purposes, the tenderers shall use the institute of objections against the terms of reference„ - Supreme Administrative Court Judgment no. 2 Afs 67/ of  25/1/2011

9. the decisions on objections must be comprehensible and verifiable
Office's authority to cancel the decision of the contracting authority on objections
the decisions on objections must be comprehensible and verifiable
otherwise the Office will cancel it and the contracting authority is obliged to decide again
from the explanatory report to the Act
„if the contracting authority can not reasonably substantiate its objections to the contested procedure, it should first of all consider whether its tendering procedure, disputed by the objection, is correct and whether it should rather take remedial action“.

10. The proposal for revision of the acts of the contracting authority submitted to the Office
must be submitted no later than 10 days after the receipt of the decision of the contracting authority on the objections
the condition is to deposit the fee and submit the proposal with all the requisites
name of the contracting authority
what is the breach of the law
caused damage
evidence proposals
what the petitioner claims

11. Proceedings before the Office in general
it is very similar to court proceedings
the procedure is mainly written (except for exceptions)
requires thorough knowledge and vast professional expertise in the field
corrective measures that the Office may impose:
- cancellation of a particular act of the contracting authority
- cancellation of the award procedure
- ban on performance of the contract
- otherwise the Office rejects the proposal
the Office also deals with administrative offences, for which it then imposes a fine

12. Information activities
publication of final decisions on the Office’s website
publication of judgments of specialized courts concerning the Office's decision-making activities on the Office's website
methodological assistance
co-operation with the Ministry for Regional Development (another administrative authority in the field)

13. The Office for the Protection of Competition
Thank you for your attention
Iveta Pospíšilíková
The Director of the Department of 2nd Instance Decision-Making Public Procurement
The Office for the Protection of Competition
Of the Czech Republic