The reshaping of the administrative procedure through technology as an opportunity to reinforce subjects’ rights

Abstract

The digital transformation of public administrations is visible in the way several services are being delivered, in the communication tools that are being used and on access to administrative information. Technology intervenes more deeply in decision-making procedures. The administrative decisions are increasingly based on automated processing, either partially or fully. Automated decision-making can facilitate the correctness of decisions, insofar as computing and algorithms potentially make the application of law less conducive to errors of fact and errors of law, and to motivations beyond the protected legal interests. It, however, poses interesting challenges: it redefines the very concept of executive application of the law (e.g., creating or making use of an administrative intermediate rationality), of procedural information gathering, of the duty to give reasons for decisions and of the way of reviewing them. Regardless of the automatization of decision-making, the administrative information systems interoperability conciliated with the data portability right redefine the gathering of information and evidence, reinforcing the principle of investigation, which can mean a higher accuracy of fact-finding with less burden on individuals. In both cases, the use of technology in the administrative procedure demands rethinking the meaning of central values of the exercise of administrative powers.