Italian Council of State rules on procurement exclusions and oral exam procedures

The Council of State issued two rulings that clarify compliance requirements in Italian public procurement and recruitment. In judgment no. 7282/2025, the court held that a contractor’s failure to disclose pending criminal investigations does not automatically trigger exclusion from a tender. However, the omission can be considered when evaluating the operator’s integrity and reliability, and exclusion is legitimate if the undisclosed proceedings are directly related to the contract at stake.

In judgment no. 4308/2026, the Council reaffirmed that oral examinations in public competitions must employ a true random drawing of question sets, as mandated by article 12 of DPR 487/1994. The use of numbered envelopes selected by candidates, without a formal sorteggio, was deemed non‑compliant and led to the annulment of the oral test procedure. Both decisions reinforce strict adherence to procedural transparency and fairness in public contracts and recruitment.