Dr Margaret Satya Rose | University of Bath (original) (raw)

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Papers by Dr Margaret Satya Rose

University of Bath, 2024

The regulation of Public Procurement (PP) has gained strategic focus for policy makers over the l... more The regulation of Public Procurement (PP) has gained strategic focus for policy makers over the last forty years. Reports, worldwide, of corruption, waste, and mismanagement in PP during the earliest stages of the COVID-19 pandemic stimulated a plethora of research on root causes and lessons learned. The dominant consensus is that PP governance systems worked well and there was no need for "radical change". This study challenges this consensus and investigates the normative-ethical orientation of modern Public Procurement Governance Systems (PPGSs) and its' possible role in the COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) procurement crisis. Employing the philosophical tools of transcendental argumentation and immanent critique within Bhaskar's metaRealist epistemological framework, PP and PP Law (PPL) ontologies are examined sequentially, and an epistemic gap is identified between what PP is in reality (de facto) and how it is codified in law (de jure). A theory of the modern PPGS, (exemplified by the UN Model Law on the Procurement of Goods, Works, and Services (2011) as an antirealist form of "Neoliberal Legality" is advanced. The theory is then tested deductively in two phases first in law and then in practice. First, through a systematic, comparative law analysis identifying and tracing indicators of Neoliberal Ethical Orientation (NEO) in the developments of PPL specifically in UK (England and Wales), and the Post-Slavery, Post-Colonial, English-speaking states of the CARICOM over a period of forty years (1980-2020). Secondly, the relationship (if any) between the normative-ethical orientation in the design of the modern PPGS immediately prior to the COVID-19 procurement crisis and the lack of public sector readiness to meet the PPE procurement crisis in the earliest stages of the pandemic, is then explored. Interview data from public procurement advisors and experts in seven (7) jurisdictions: UK, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Bahamas, Lebanon, US, and South Africa was collected to examine the way in which the procurement of PPE was governed in practice immediately prior to January 2020 and why. The study found that despite variations in PPGS design in the UK and CARICOM, a reductive, materialist, conceptualization of value was encoded therein. Moreover, the exploration of PP in practice revealed that in all jurisdictions, immediately prior to January 2020, PPE was considered a "non-critical" item and therefore did not attract strategic supply chain risk and inventory management, nor supply chain auditing. Ultimately, the study aims to (i) explicate and problematize the dominant normative-ethical orientation underpinning modern PPGS design (ii) explore its possible causal influence on public sector readiness in the earliest stages of the pandemic and (iii) query whether, despite the dominant consensus in the field, the COVID-19 PPE crisis instantiates the need to rethink the normative-ethical orientation of the design of modern public procurement governance systems.

UNESCAP HACKATHON , 2020

The COVID-19 global pandemic has spurred the disintegration of an already frustrating climate fo... more The COVID-19 global pandemic has spurred the disintegration of an already frustrating climate
for international trade cooperation. The demand for COVID-19 related goods and services has
brought to the forefront the crucial challenge experienced by governments having to manage
tensions between the sometimes divergent commitments to protecting national health interests and
international trade cooperation. This paper highlights government procurement as an underutilized
potential lever for addressing the challenge of equitable access to essential medical goods in times
of crisis. By reference to policy responses collected by the Global COVID-19 Policy Response
(GCPR) research initiative, the paper questions the exclusion of government procurement
provisions in trade agreements in times of crisis. The authors argue for (i) the development and
inclusion of Model ‘Crisis’ Procurement provisions in trade agreements and (ii) the leveraging of
technological solutions like the GCPR in order to improve government transparency and
cooperation in times of crisis.

Public Policy & Administration in the Caribbean, Taylor & Francis, 2014

Review by Caribbean Procurement Institute of Trinidad and Tobago Public Procurement & Disposal of Property Bill 2014

Although through Public Law mechanisms the courts typically control the exercise of executive dis... more Although through Public Law mechanisms the courts typically control the exercise of executive discretion and impose on office-holders duties of considerate decision-making, courts, in the absence of statutory underpinning, have nonetheless been reluctant to intervene in public procurement decisions on the basis that there is an insufficient public law element in them. At the same time, recent developments in the Private Law of contract have established that once a decision is taken to engage members of the public in a bidding exercise on express terms and conditions the purchaser, in certain circumstances, would be held bound to duties of considerate decision-making. In this paper, the impact of the Trinidad and Tobago Judicial Review Act 2000 on the common law regime for administrative relief is considered. I suggest that continued judicial preoccupation with seeking a sufficient public law element over and above the statutory jurisdiction to review is wrong and such approaches compromise our ability to develop the jurisprudence in a way which meets the new demands in public sector management.

On 25th June 2010 the Public Procurement and Disposal of Property Bill 2010 and the National Tend... more On 25th June 2010 the Public Procurement and Disposal of Property Bill 2010 and the National Tenders Board Bill 1997 were laid in the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago. The bills were forwarded to the newly established Joint Select Committee for Public Procurement Reform and on December 6th 2010, the said Committee issued a Call for Submissions from Stakeholders. This paper is submitted in response to this Call.

Over the last quarter century a global revolution has taken place in the perception of the functi... more Over the last quarter century a global revolution has taken place in the perception of the function of procurement within the context of public and private sector business. Across the board, more and more, the highly strategic impact of procurement decision-making on the sustainable development and growth of organisations, countries and regional trading blocks is being appreciated. The impetus for the advancement of public procurement reform initiatives in developing states is escalating as trade liberalisation is exhorted as a universal good. In addition to the mounting external pressures of the globalised economic 1Margaret Rose 10.11.08| www.caribbeanprocurementinstitute.com THE PROCUREMENT LAW INTENSIVE environment on SIDS, the demands for more accountable governance from an expanding enlightened citizenry and strengthened civil society are causing an increasingly difficult to ignore internal pressure for public procurement reform. Public Procurement reformative efforts within CARICOM member states are presently plagued by tensions between the varied and oft-times competing objectives of the political desire to retain "policy space" in order to pursue socioeconomic development objectives and the demands of trade liberalization and accountable governance. Deeply entrenched commercial, bureaucratic and political

University of Bath, 2024

The regulation of Public Procurement (PP) has gained strategic focus for policy makers over the l... more The regulation of Public Procurement (PP) has gained strategic focus for policy makers over the last forty years. Reports, worldwide, of corruption, waste, and mismanagement in PP during the earliest stages of the COVID-19 pandemic stimulated a plethora of research on root causes and lessons learned. The dominant consensus is that PP governance systems worked well and there was no need for "radical change". This study challenges this consensus and investigates the normative-ethical orientation of modern Public Procurement Governance Systems (PPGSs) and its' possible role in the COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) procurement crisis. Employing the philosophical tools of transcendental argumentation and immanent critique within Bhaskar's metaRealist epistemological framework, PP and PP Law (PPL) ontologies are examined sequentially, and an epistemic gap is identified between what PP is in reality (de facto) and how it is codified in law (de jure). A theory of the modern PPGS, (exemplified by the UN Model Law on the Procurement of Goods, Works, and Services (2011) as an antirealist form of "Neoliberal Legality" is advanced. The theory is then tested deductively in two phases first in law and then in practice. First, through a systematic, comparative law analysis identifying and tracing indicators of Neoliberal Ethical Orientation (NEO) in the developments of PPL specifically in UK (England and Wales), and the Post-Slavery, Post-Colonial, English-speaking states of the CARICOM over a period of forty years (1980-2020). Secondly, the relationship (if any) between the normative-ethical orientation in the design of the modern PPGS immediately prior to the COVID-19 procurement crisis and the lack of public sector readiness to meet the PPE procurement crisis in the earliest stages of the pandemic, is then explored. Interview data from public procurement advisors and experts in seven (7) jurisdictions: UK, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Bahamas, Lebanon, US, and South Africa was collected to examine the way in which the procurement of PPE was governed in practice immediately prior to January 2020 and why. The study found that despite variations in PPGS design in the UK and CARICOM, a reductive, materialist, conceptualization of value was encoded therein. Moreover, the exploration of PP in practice revealed that in all jurisdictions, immediately prior to January 2020, PPE was considered a "non-critical" item and therefore did not attract strategic supply chain risk and inventory management, nor supply chain auditing. Ultimately, the study aims to (i) explicate and problematize the dominant normative-ethical orientation underpinning modern PPGS design (ii) explore its possible causal influence on public sector readiness in the earliest stages of the pandemic and (iii) query whether, despite the dominant consensus in the field, the COVID-19 PPE crisis instantiates the need to rethink the normative-ethical orientation of the design of modern public procurement governance systems.

UNESCAP HACKATHON , 2020

The COVID-19 global pandemic has spurred the disintegration of an already frustrating climate fo... more The COVID-19 global pandemic has spurred the disintegration of an already frustrating climate
for international trade cooperation. The demand for COVID-19 related goods and services has
brought to the forefront the crucial challenge experienced by governments having to manage
tensions between the sometimes divergent commitments to protecting national health interests and
international trade cooperation. This paper highlights government procurement as an underutilized
potential lever for addressing the challenge of equitable access to essential medical goods in times
of crisis. By reference to policy responses collected by the Global COVID-19 Policy Response
(GCPR) research initiative, the paper questions the exclusion of government procurement
provisions in trade agreements in times of crisis. The authors argue for (i) the development and
inclusion of Model ‘Crisis’ Procurement provisions in trade agreements and (ii) the leveraging of
technological solutions like the GCPR in order to improve government transparency and
cooperation in times of crisis.

Public Policy & Administration in the Caribbean, Taylor & Francis, 2014

Review by Caribbean Procurement Institute of Trinidad and Tobago Public Procurement & Disposal of Property Bill 2014

Although through Public Law mechanisms the courts typically control the exercise of executive dis... more Although through Public Law mechanisms the courts typically control the exercise of executive discretion and impose on office-holders duties of considerate decision-making, courts, in the absence of statutory underpinning, have nonetheless been reluctant to intervene in public procurement decisions on the basis that there is an insufficient public law element in them. At the same time, recent developments in the Private Law of contract have established that once a decision is taken to engage members of the public in a bidding exercise on express terms and conditions the purchaser, in certain circumstances, would be held bound to duties of considerate decision-making. In this paper, the impact of the Trinidad and Tobago Judicial Review Act 2000 on the common law regime for administrative relief is considered. I suggest that continued judicial preoccupation with seeking a sufficient public law element over and above the statutory jurisdiction to review is wrong and such approaches compromise our ability to develop the jurisprudence in a way which meets the new demands in public sector management.

On 25th June 2010 the Public Procurement and Disposal of Property Bill 2010 and the National Tend... more On 25th June 2010 the Public Procurement and Disposal of Property Bill 2010 and the National Tenders Board Bill 1997 were laid in the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago. The bills were forwarded to the newly established Joint Select Committee for Public Procurement Reform and on December 6th 2010, the said Committee issued a Call for Submissions from Stakeholders. This paper is submitted in response to this Call.

Over the last quarter century a global revolution has taken place in the perception of the functi... more Over the last quarter century a global revolution has taken place in the perception of the function of procurement within the context of public and private sector business. Across the board, more and more, the highly strategic impact of procurement decision-making on the sustainable development and growth of organisations, countries and regional trading blocks is being appreciated. The impetus for the advancement of public procurement reform initiatives in developing states is escalating as trade liberalisation is exhorted as a universal good. In addition to the mounting external pressures of the globalised economic 1Margaret Rose 10.11.08| www.caribbeanprocurementinstitute.com THE PROCUREMENT LAW INTENSIVE environment on SIDS, the demands for more accountable governance from an expanding enlightened citizenry and strengthened civil society are causing an increasingly difficult to ignore internal pressure for public procurement reform. Public Procurement reformative efforts within CARICOM member states are presently plagued by tensions between the varied and oft-times competing objectives of the political desire to retain "policy space" in order to pursue socioeconomic development objectives and the demands of trade liberalization and accountable governance. Deeply entrenched commercial, bureaucratic and political