Facts
The Municipality of X. issued an invitation to tender for the contract "Preparation of project studies with cost estimates for the construction of the municipal building". The result achieved in the so-called "Public Voting" was also to be taken into account in the award criteria. The Administrative Court of the Canton of Zurich considered this criterion to be fundamentally inadmissible and instructed the municipality to award the contract to Y. AG/Z. GmbH.
The Municipality of X. then filed a public law appeal with the Federal Supreme Court. The Federal Supreme Court upheld the appeal and remanded the case to the Administrative Court for re-evaluation.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court stated that the municipalities in the Canton of Zurich have a relatively significant degree of decision-making freedom and thus enjoy autonomy in public procurement. If a cantonal appeal instance intervenes in such an area and substitutes its own assessment for that of the municipality, it violates the municipal autonomy.
In the present case, it appears uneconomical and impractical to develop a project that does not enjoy the acceptance of the population from the outset and is therefore at risk of failing in the popular vote. Therefore, it is…