Legal Protection of Concession Contracts – at the Interface between Public and Private Law and European and National Law

Abstract

This scientific paper discusses the legal protection of concession contracts in Slovene law. The main objective is to identify the problems caused by the current regime and to propose some solutions. To achieve this aim, it relies in particular on the comparative and dogmatic research method. The author notes that the legal protection depends on the type and value of the concession: for concessions falling within the scope of Directive 2014/23/EU it is provided in accordance with the rules of the EU directives on legal protection, while other concessions are subject to the rules of national law. Legal protection also varies depending on whether the dispute falls under administrative or civil law: public-law disputes are usually decided by administrative courts and civil-law disputes by ordinary courts. Such a regime may interfere with the right to effective judicial protection, as there is often no clear dividing line between public and private law protection. This can lead to delegation of cases between different authorities and a prolonged decision-making process. The author therefore considers that all disputes relating to concession contracts should be decided by one court – the Administrative Court. In addition, it is necessary to establish mechanisms to ensure effective protection of non-selected tenders, as the current regime does not provide for such protection. The novelty of the presented research lies in the fact that no scientific papers deal with the covered issues published so far. The author believes that the paper has a cognitive value for both science and practice.