Category: Uncategorized

Board of Contract Appeals Bar Association (BCABA) Conference at GWU Law — on Ethics in Practice

Dismas (Dis) Locaria (Venable), Danica (Dani) Irvine (U.S. DoD), Stuart Bender (USDA) and Terry Elling (Holland & Knight)

The Board of Contract Appeals Bar Association (BCABA) and the George Washington University Law School were pleased to host the BCABA’s annual Policy Colloquium. This year’s program focused on Ethics and Professionalism in Government Contracts Practice.  The speakers and panelists included senior government and private practitioners who shared their knowledge and experiences on a variety of government ethics regulatory issues and best practices in the counseling and litigation settings.  Holland & Knight’s Terry Elling was the program moderator.

Tom Davis (Holland & Knight)
  • Former congressman Tom Davis was the keynote speaker, and he spoke warmly of the bar’s role in ensuring integrity in our system.
  • Stuart Bender, Director of the Office of Ethics at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) presented on legal and government ethics issues, and discussed the USDA Ethics App, which has been lauded for using ethics “games” to encourage learning.
  • Danica (Dani) Irvine, of the Defense Department’s Standards of Conduct Office, joined other panelists in discussing compliance challenges, including the use of screening questionnaires such as DD 2945 to screen for possible conflicts of interest in post-government employment.

The program was held at the Faculty Conference Center, George Washington University Law School on Tuesday, December 3, 2019.

BCABA-GWU Law Program MaterialsDownload

Principles of Public Contracts in Europe – Conference at University Paris Est Créteil

Conference Program Download

On December 12, 2019 the University Paris Est Créteil hosts a conference on principles of public contracts in Europe, coordinated by Professor Stéphane de La Rosa, University Professor and Director of the Research Team MIL (Markets, Institutions and Liberties).

Panel III

Martin Raz – PresentationDownload

Martin Raz – Havel & Partners – Czech Republic

Panel IV

Steven Van Garsse, Professeur à l’Université de Anvers (BE), Professor of Public Law – University of Anvers/Hasselt, on Principles of efficiency and effectiveness

Romélien Colavitti, Senior  Lecturer  in Public  Law – University of Valenciennes,  on The principles  governing  alternate modes of dispute resolution

Carol Cravero – Presentation Download

Carole Cravero, PhD student University of Turin and University of Paris-West Nanterre, on The Principles of Corporate Social Responsibility and Public Contracts

Vincent Bouhier, Senior  Lecturer  and Dean – Evry-Paris Saclay University,  The Principle of Reciprocity 

Vincent Bouhier – PresentationDownload
Daniel Schoeni-Full PresentationDownload

Lt Col Daniel Schoeni, Judge Advocate, U.S. Air Force; PhD Candidate, University of Nottingham, Is the practice of negotiation in public contracts a common principle?

Christopher Yukins, Lynn David Research Professor of Government Procurement Law, George Washington University Law School; moderator

Tbilisi, Georgia: Impact of Corruption in Public Contracts – an International Dialogue and Exchange of Experiences

Tbilisi, Georgia

On October 28, 2019, a training session was held in Tbilisi, Georgia on anti-corruption efforts. The session was convened by the European Union’s “twinning” project, “Strengthening Public Procurement Practices in Georgia,” and moderated by Ms. Dana Mitae, Legal Advisor and Consultant for the Department for Consulting, e-Procurement and International Affairs, Federal Procurement Agency of Austria, Austria. The session built on Georgia’s Association Agreement with the European Union, which calls in Chapter 8 for Georgia to incorporate important elements of the European Union’s procurement directives into Georgia’s own laws and institutions. The session was opened by Mr. Levan Razmadze – Chairman of State Procurement Agency of Georgia, and outside experts included Prof. Christopher Yukins, George Washington University (USA), Mr. Mihai Dragutescu, President of the Senate for Administrative Cases (Romania), and Ms. Maja Kuhar, President of the State Commission for Supervision of Public Procurement Procedures, Zagreb (Croatia).

Mihai Dragutescu, President of the Senate for Administrative Cases (Romania)
Maja Kuhar-SlidesDownload
Chris Yukins-Slides (Part I)Download
Chris Yukins – Slides (Part II)Download

Reference Materials

Law of Georgia on Public ProcurementDownload
Law of Georgia on Conflict of InterestDownload

EU-Georgia Association Agreement

Professor Piga Urges Italian Support for Small- and Medium-Sized Businesses in Response to Trump Buy American Initiative

Prof. Gustavo Piga

In an editorial published in Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, Professor Gustavo Piga of the University of Rome – Tor Vergata, an activist in Italian politics and and a leader in the international procurement community, responded to an article by Christopher Yukins assessing the Trump administration’s latest Buy American initiative.  Professor Piga argued that, though the actual impact of the Trump order might be minimal (as Professor Yukins pointed out), Italian policymakers should emulate U.S. support for small businesses, which the U.S. undertakes through protectionist preferences.  Professor Piga closed:  “GliStatiUniti lo insegnano chiaramente: non pensando per le piccole, smettiamo di pensare in grande.”  (“The United States clearly teaches this:  by not thinking of the small, we stop thinking big.”).

Maldives Procurement Training

Male, Maldives

International procurement training led by the Ministry of Finance, Republic of Maldives (Minister Ibrahim Ameer, pictured below), and coordinated by the U.S. Department of Commerce – Commercial Law Development Program was held in Male, capital of the Maldives, on August 4-5, 2019. Chris Yukins’ slides for the program are included here.

Professor Yukins leads exercise
Minister Ibrahim Ameer, with Glenn Penfold, Esq. (South Africa)

Download [7.17 MB]

Download [4.74 MB]

Public Procurement: Global Revolution IX – University of Nottingham – June 17-18, 2019

Our colleagues at the Public Procurement Research Group at the University of Nottingham, led by Professors Sue Arrowsmith and Peter Trepte, will be hosting the ninth of their “Global Revolution” conferences on June 17-18. Academics and practitioners from around the globe (including a team from GWU Law School) will join the program for one of the world’s leading conferences on emerging developments in public procurement law.

Sope Williams-Elegbe & Christopher Yukins: The World Bank’s Procurement FrameworkDownload
Gabriella Racca – Presentation on Joint Cross Border Procurement and InnovationDownload
Christopher Yukins – Presentation on Use of Commercial Online Marketplaces in Public ProcurementDownload

Colette Langos Speaks on Australian Bid Challenge Developments

On February 20, 2019, Dr. Colette Langos, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Adelaide, made a very interesting presentation at GWU Law School, on developments in Australia’s bid protest procedures. She explained that these latest reforms, outlined in her attached slides, were an important part of Australia’s accession to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement.

Colette Langos
LANGOS Developments in Federal Procurement – Australian complaints mechanismDownload

Professor Michal Kania – European Defense Procurement – Presentation at GWU Law School

Defense_Security_UE_Michal_Kania_Final_version – Published

Visiting Fulbright scholar Professor Michael Kania (Silesian University) will present on European Defense Procurement at George Washington University Law School, Law Learning Center 006, 2028 G Street NW, Washington, DC, from 6-8 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2018.  His presentation is linked above.  If you would like to attend this open seminar, please reserve a space with Cassandra Crawford, ccrawford@law.gwu.edu.