Limits of administrative review in challenging the technical merit of a competitive grant selection process

The High Court of Cassation and Justice (ICCJ) dismissed the appeal, upholding the lower court's decision and confirming that the administrative claim challenging the rejection of a co-financing application in a European Union program was inadmissible. The dispute concerned a beneficiary's attempt to contest the specific evaluation and selection scores assigned during the competitive grant process, where the material facts established that the applicant failed to meet the mandatory selection criteria as determined by the competent authority. The court held that the administrative jurisdiction is limited to verifying the legality of the administrative act regarding procedural and substantive compliance, but it lacks the authority to re-evaluate the technical merit, quality, or strategic priority of the project in question, as such discretionary assessment powers belong exclusively to the specialized evaluation committee. Consequently, the individual's subjective right to a specific ranking or funding allocation was deemed non-existent in law, barring the court from substituting its judgment for that of the administrative authority under the principles of administrative law.