Appeal procedures

Contracts between MINDEF and its suppliers must be conducted under the best possible conditions and in accordance with that which has been announced.

However, difficulties may arise, either during the consultation or execution phases of the contract. To help you identify a solution to resolve disputes, MINDEF has set up a range of procedures (arrangements) that a contractor may employ.

At the request of the SME/SMI bureau, a SME/SMI point of contact has been designated within each MINDEF purchasing agency. He is responsible for resolving any problems you may encounter, which your approaches to the relevant departments have failed to resolve. You will find details of these contact points in the directory of MINDEF purchasing departments.

For those purchases with which it is involved, the DGA also makes a mediator available to those SME/SMI who so desire to help them avoid disputes and arrive at an amicable resolution of any conflict with the contracting agency.

At Ministry level, the SME/SMI bureau, which comes directly under Minister’s private office, is tasked with resolving any problems encountered by an SME that has a relationship with MINDEF, regardless of the department concerned.

If, at this level, your problems remain unresolved, you then have two possible courses of action open to you, at two levels:

  Non-judicial resolution before an administrative authority, including out-of court settlement, amicable agreement or arbitration, formal request up the chain of command or a compromise solution.
  Legal proceedings (better known as an appeal process), which include the pre-contractual referral and the suspension referral.

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