A bidder with a criminal record relating to a violation of labor laws was selected as the winner of a tender in contrary to the threshold requirement in the tender.
The Court accepted the petition and canceled the bidder's win due to non-compliance with the threshold conditions and a violation to the principle of equality. A prerequisite, in essence, is a "prerequisite for participation in a tender". A threshold requirement must be met in the bid or bidder before the deadline for submitting bids. Acceptance of a bid that does not meet the threshold requirements constitutes a violation of equality vis-à-vis the other bidders, including potential bidders who refrained from participating in the tender knowing that they did not meet the prerequisites. Here, the tender included a chapter relating to "disqualification of a bid due to violations of labor laws" and a threshold requirement for the absence of convictions of a criminal offense relating to labor laws in the three years preceding the submission of the bid. However, because the bidder and the shareholders were convicted of violations of labor laws two and a half years before the last day of submission of the bid, the tenders committee should have disqualified the bid and it is not possible to validate the bid retroactively while violating the equality. Consequently, the bid was disqualified and the bidder who came in second place was declared the winner of the tender.