Supervisors
Main supervisor: Mattias Derlén, professor, Umeå University
Assistant supervisor: Lena Enqvist, associate professor, Umeå University
PhD project The thesis is a comparative study of how Germany, France, and Sweden have approached the regulation of individuals’ access to information regarding the functioning systems used in automated administrative decisions. These regulatory approaches are then analysed from the perspective on transparency into public administration in the French, German, and Swedish legal culture.
To be able to understand administrative decision is of fundamental importance to the rule of law. Such transparency into public administration is however complicated by the increased automation of administrative decision-making, leaving the use of public power in the hands of algorithmic systems. The thesis compares the regulations of France, Germany, and Sweden in this context. The access to information concerns the internal logic of the system, and the system’s processing of data.
The use of automated systems in administrative decision-making is increasing exponentially. Automation may assist administrative decision-making in several ways, from full automation, to recommending solutions, or compiling relevant data. The use of such systems has raised transparency concerns as to their functioning.
Different regulatory approaches have arisen in states to alleviate such concerns. Legal frameworks have been enacted at both the EU and national level to regulate the use of automated administrative decisions.
This thesis will compare the legal frameworks of France, Germany, and Sweden regarding the access to information for individuals subjected to an automated administrative decision. By examining these national legal frameworks, the thesis elucidates how the states have discussed and addressed individuals' access to information to the internal logic of the system, and the data that has been processed to take an administrative decision.
The legal frameworks will be compared to identify similarities and differences between the states’ regulatory approaches. The regulatory approach of a state is the result of their unique historical, cultural, and legal contexts. It is therefore important to consider that the compared states come from three distinct legal cultures. The thesis will to this effect analyse the influence of their respective legal cultures’ view in transparency in public administration.
The thesis will analyse the influence of these views on transparency in public administration onto the similarities and differences between the regulatory approaches. The thesis will in this way provide guidance to legislators on how states of three legal cultures have addressed common issues related to transparency for individuals party to an automated administrative decision.
Main supervisor: Mattias Derlén, professor, Umeå University
Assistant supervisor: Lena Enqvist, associate professor, Umeå University