Knowledge base › Submitting, award and objections
When interim proceedings are relevant, which time limits apply and what the court can and can no longer assess.
Checked on 15-09-2026
If you disagree with an award decision and asking for an explanation or filing a complaint does not help, interim proceedings (kort geding) are the way to stop the award. The interim relief judge can, depending on the stage of the tender, order provisional measures, such as a prohibition on awarding the contract to anyone other than the claimant.
Timing is decisive. After the notification of the award decision, a standstill period of 20 calendar days applies. If you start interim proceedings within that period, the authority may not make the final award until the court has ruled. If the tender documents and the rejection letter state explicitly that the period is a period of forfeiture, you can, as a rule, no longer go to court after it has ended.
The court also looks at whether you did earlier in the procedure what could be expected of you. Unclear points in the tender documents or objections to answers in the clarification note (nota van inlichtingen) should be raised before submission, or at least before the award decision. Those who wait run into forfeiture of rights. Interim proceedings after the award therefore work best for errors in the assessment itself, such as a calculation error in the scores or a winner that does not meet a knock-out requirement.
If the contract has already been concluded, proceedings on the merits remain. Interested parties can ask the court to annul a contract concluded in breach of procurement rules, within six months of its conclusion; under certain conditions that period is shortened to 30 calendar days after publication. Damages can also be claimed.
What this means for you: interim proceedings cost money and time, and the period is short. So ask for an explanation as soon as you receive the rejection letter, have a lawyer experienced in procurement law assess the decision as quickly as possible, and decide well within the 20 days. Always raise unclear points during the question round; that keeps your position open later.
These articles explain how public tendering works; they are not legal advice. If you are unsure about a specific tender, ask your question through the clarification round or consult a lawyer.
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