Council of State: the running of the time limit for bringing an action requires knowledge of the measure sufficient not only to perceive its prejudicial effect, but also to identify elements capable of revealing possible grounds of unlawfulness

By judgment No. 4943/2026, published on 22 June 2026, the Council of State ruled on the question of the dies a quo of the time limit for challenging administrative measures, with particular reference to public procurement award procedures.

In particular, in the judgment under examination, the Council of State aligns itself with the line of case law according to which, for the purposes of the running of the time limit for challenging an administrative measure, it is not sufficient that the measure itself has produced a prejudicial effect in the legal sphere of the appellant; it is instead necessary that the interested party has had actual knowledge — or the ability to become aware — of the defect of legality that it intends to assert before the courts.