Public administration in Germany in the age of artificial intelligence: Fully automated procedure and robotic administrative decisions

Abstract

Fully automated administration has recently entered the general law on administrative procedure in Germany with the introduction of § 35a VwVfG as part of a comprehensive reform of digital administration. The general rule on the fully automated administrative acts has been introduced with a certain caution by the German legislator, who has excluded its application in case of discretionary decisions, however, there is room for a broader application of the provision. As is now known, the many advantages of total automation also conceal dangers not only for the protection of the citizen but also for the Administration itself. The procedure then becomes the place to achieve a digitization compatible with the guarantees of the rule of law, confirming the functionalist approach and the attention to protection that characterize the German legal system.