The criteria subject to judgment of value; the Trojan Horse of public procurement

Abstract

Objectives: This article aims to carry out a reflection on the current scope of the criteria subject to value judgment in our public contracting framework, for which we will analyze the different aspects that involve subjective criteria. Methodology: The usual one in legal studies, with handling of positive law, scientific doctrine, resolutions of contractual appeals courts and jurisprudence. Results: The rickety and disharmonized regulation that the current Contract Law makes of them, turns the criteria subject to value judgment, with more assiduity than desired, into a malleable and arbitrary legal artifact. Conclusions: We infer the need to undertake a process of reform of the criteria subject to value judgment that, without implying a disruptive change that compromises the loss of their essence, allows a regulatory improvement that guarantees an adequate balance between their use with a playing field marked and fertilized by certainty in which all economic operators must operate, giving rise to the configuration of a clear and secure legal framework.