Grave professional misconduct: from open clause to defined conduct

Under the Public Contracts Code, grave professional misconduct is one of the most sensitive grounds for exclusion, as it directly affects the reliability of the economic operator. Legislation and case law are moving from a broad general clause towards a progressive definition of the relevant conduct, aiming to balance the contracting authority’s discretion with certainty for businesses.

For the operator this means taking care of transparency in the tender, carefully assessing which past events to declare and how to document the self-cleaning measures adopted. An effective defence relies on a precise reconstruction of the facts and on evidence of the remedial action taken.

Summary note by the CommercialistiAvvocati network, based on specialised legal and practice sources. The text does not reproduce original contributions and does not constitute professional advice.