Public procurement refers to the purchase of goods and services necessary for the administrative entity to provide public services such as defense, education, electricity and water facilities, roads and ports, social facilities, and health services. I...
Public procurement refers to the purchase of goods and services necessary for the administrative entity to provide public services such as defense, education, electricity and water facilities, roads and ports, social facilities, and health services. In the Public procurement price efficiency has traditionally been important on the part of buyers, whereby non-discrimination and competition has been important on the part of suppliers. However, the impact of public procurement is very large in each country's economy, and as a result, there has been debate about whether public procurement can carry out social policies such as industrial development, environmental protection and disability care in addition to the traditional goals. The European Union has made it possible to reflect social considerations in public procurement through notable cases of the European Courts and has since made it clear that the public procurement directives can also take into account the environmental and social considerations of public procurement.
Most countries have a duty to protect human rights in the Constitution. Besides, countries have international obligations to protect, respect and fulfil human rights, even in accordance with international treaties and customary international law that many countries have joined. Taking this duty as point of departure, the UN Guiding Principles and the UN's 2030 Agenda suggest public procurement as the most effective and essential means for the fulfillment of human rights obligations.
Various attempts have been made in the European Union to prevent human rights abuses in the public procurement sector, among which important examples are the public co-procurement in the Swedish healthcare sector and the protection of workers' human rights in the Dutch electronics sector. One example is the Electronics Watch activity, an NGO that works for. South Africa's public procurement law, though not the case of the European Union, is a good example of using public procurement as an important tool for correcting historical racial discrimination. In Ireland, the public procurement guidelines and its transitional legislation suggest the possibility of national liability as a remedy for abuse of human rights in the public procurement process.
The Government Procurement Agreement, attached to the WTO establishment agreement, aims to promote free trade through the elimination of trade barriers. Therefore, when promoting human rights protection policies in public procurement, it may be questioned whether the elements related to human rights protection act as trade barriers as they can be discrimination against bidders and thus go against the government procurement agreement. However, the possibility of promoting human rights protection policy is still open even under the application of government procurement agreements through the interpretation of the scope of agreements or consensus exceptions related to the schedule and concessions.
In the light of our findings centered on the EU, there are regulations that can be evaluated to promote human rights protection in our public procurement law. However, it is difficult to evaluate that such provisions actually contribute to public procurement and the actual role of human rights protections. In the future, it is necessary to find legislative and policy measures to more effectively guarantee human rights protection in our public procurement law.