The College of Law at the University of Baghdad Discusses a Doctoral Dissertation on the Principles of Publicity, Competition, and Transparency in the Selection of Contractors and the Impact of Violating Them.

The discussion committee consisted of the following professors:

1. Prof. Dr. Saab Naji Abboud — Chairman
2. Prof. Dr. Maha Bahjat Younis — Member
3. Prof. Dr. Saba Numan Rashid — Member
4. Prof. Dr. Sarah Khalaf Jassim — Member
5. Asst. Prof. Dr. Taghreed Mohammed Qadouri — Member
6. Prof. Dr. Waleed Marza Hamza — Member and Supervisor

The dissertation aimed to examine the legal framework governing the principles of publicity, competition, and transparency in the selection of a contractor by the administration, particularly in terms of the obligation to comply with these principles and the consequences of violating them. It also sought to clarify the fundamental function of these principles and their impact on the proper conclusion and implementation of administrative contracts by addressing or avoiding risks and achieving the public interest.

The dissertation consisted of two chapters. The first chapter addressed the legal foundations of the principles of publicity, competition, and transparency in the selection of contractors. The second chapter examined the mechanisms for enhancing publicity, competition, and transparency in contractor selection and the consequences of violating them.

The dissertation concluded with several recommendations, the most important of which were:

1. Amending the State Council Law No. (65) of 1979, as amended, by adding a provision authorizing the Administrative Judiciary Court to examine the legality of contract-award decisions and their compliance with the provisions of the law. This would enable the Court to exercise judicial oversight over the administration’s procedures for selecting contractors and ensure their validity.
2. Providing in the effective Integrity and Illicit Gain Law No. (30) of 2011, as amended, that one of the powers of the Integrity Commission is to notify the competent authorities to take the necessary legal measures to terminate any contract to which the State is a party, revoke a concession, or terminate other contractual arrangements if it is established that they were concluded in violation of the provisions of the law or are being implemented contrary to the terms of the concluded contract.

3. Developing a federal strategy by the Council of Ministers to regulate the mechanism for integrating artificial intelligence systems and related entities into the legal, administrative, and technical framework governing public contracts, in accordance with a specific timetable for completing the legal requirements and infrastructure necessary for such integration.