UNCITRAL Model Law and guidance on Public Procurement

The Model Law on Public Procurement contains procedures and principles aimed at achieving value for money and avoiding abuses in the procurement process. The text promotes objectivity, fairness, participation and competition and integrity towards these goals. Transparency is also a key principle, allowing visible compliance with the procedures and principles to be confirmed.

The Model Law replaces the 1994 UNCITRAL Model Law on Procurement of Goods, Construction and Services. While the 1994 text was recognized as an important international benchmark in procurement law reform, in 2004, the Commission agreed that the 1994 Model Law would benefit from being updated to reflect new practices, in particular those resulting from the use of electronic communications in public procurement, and the experience gained in the use of that Model Law as a basis for law reform. Nonetheless, the principles and main procedures from the 1994 text, the foundation of its success, have not been changed.