SUSPENSIÓN DE PLAZOS ADMINISTRATIVOS Y CONTRATACIÓN PÚBLICA

Abstract

The so-called "Social and Mandatory Preventive Isolation" (APSO), established from the Decree of Necessity and Urgency No. 297/20 (and successively extended) implies a restriction on the ambulatory freedom of people and a -temporary- ban on carrying out various legal economic activities. Among them, activities or services, were the tasks carried out by the personnel of the National, Provincial, Municipal Public Sector and the City of Buenos Aires. These limitations, complemented by the adaptations of the means of transport to the pandemic situation (cf. frequency and occupancy limitations), led to the suspension of the deadlines in the administrative procedures. In response to the description, Decree No. 298/2020 established the suspension of the course of the terms, within the administrative procedures regulated by the National Law of Administrative Procedures No. 19,549 (LNPA), by the Regulation of Administrative Procedures. Decree 1759/72 - T.O. 2017 (RPA) and by other special procedures. Thus, since public contracting is an administrative procedure, and since the provisions of the LNPA are applicable (cf. Art. 7 “in fine”), the selection procedures in process were affected by the declared suspension of deadlines, until the appearance of Decree No. 521/2020, with the particularities that we will point out. Answer the above, we will try to highlight the impact that the suspension of deadlines has had on public contracting, emphasizing the regulations issued by the National Executive Power, which allows us to see its interesting value for understanding the subject that brings us together. . However, the scenarios described could be applicable in jurisdictions where measures of a similar nature have been ordered.