TemaNord 2024:503

Public Digitalisation in a legal perspective

Status, challenges and opportunities for Nordic-Baltic cooperation

Public Digitalisation in a legal perspective:

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AUTHORS FOREWORD RECOMMENDATIONS DENMARK Status, new challenges and perspectives for Nordic-Baltic cooperation 1. Introduction 2. Organisational and Governance Structures of the Danish Public Administration 3. The Digital administration in Denmark 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Historical development 3.3 Databases and digital infrastructures 3.4 The Joint Government Digital Strategy 3.5 Challenges 4. The legal framework 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Constitutional principles and legal basis for digitalisation 4.3 Fundamental Rights 4.4 Danish Administrative law 4.5 The forthcoming AI act 5. New and pressing challenges ESTONIA The Estonian e-state and challenges of regulating public sector digitalisation 1. Introduction 2. Foundations of Estonian Public Administration 2.1 Constitutional principles and the system of protection of fundamental rights in Estonian law 2.2 Legal Organisation of Estonian Public Administration 3. Digitalization of Estonian Administration 3.1 Political and Legal Development of the Estonian e-State 3.2 Current status of the Estonian regulations on digital public administration 3.3 Main Stakeholders of the Digitalization of Estonian Administration 4. The Values of Democracy and Rule of Law, Trust in Public Administration and Respect of Citizens’ Rights within the Framework of the Digitalization of the Estonian Administration 4.1 Democracy and the Rule of Law 4.2 Trust in Public Administration 4.3 Respect of Citizens’ Rights 5. The possible impact of the EU’s envisioned AI Act on Estonian Administrative Law 5.1 Estonia’s opinion on the EU’s envisioned AI Act 5.2 The EU’s envisioned AI Act’s impact on Estonian national legislation 6. Pro’s and Con’s of National Legislative Reforms to Digitize Administrative Law, including questions of harmonisation FINLAND Regulation and Doctrinal Challenges of Automated Decision-Making in Public Administration Abstract 1. Introduction 2. The Administrative Framework in Finland 2.1 Public bodies and the organisation of administration 2.2 Legal sources of public administration 3. ADM Regulation in Finland 3.1 What do we mean by automated decision-making? 3.2 Background for ADM: Decades of digitalisation efforts in public administration 3.3 Starting points for the new ADM legislation 3.4 The New ADM rules in the Administrative Procedural Act and Information Management Act 3.5 Lex specialis for ADM in taxation and customs 3.6 ADM and the human assumption 4. EU Regulation for Artificial Intelligence 4.1 Potential overlap between national ADM rules and the Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA) 4.2 Objectives and the scope of the AIA 4.3 Potential parallel application of AIA and national ADM legislation 5. The challenge of law and technology 5.1 Within the legal system – Tuori’s Critical Legal Positivism 5.2 Within the administrative practice – the perspective of usability 6. Potential for Northern European collaboration 7. Conclusion LATVIA The Digitalisation of the Public Administration Abstract 1. Latvian administrative sector 1.1 Overview 1.2 Implemented digitalisation 1.3 Plans for the future digitalisation 2. Digitalisation and Human Rights: Potential Challenges 2.1 The landscape of relevant human rights obligations 2.2 Judgments of the Constitutional Court of Latvia 2.3 Opinions of the Ombudsman of Latvia 2.4 European Court of Human Rights judgment in Nagla v. Latvia 2.5 Analysis 3. Does the Legal Framework Support Digitalisation? 3.1 Legislative obligation of self-digitalisation 3.2 Policy paper promoted digitalisation 3.3 Technology-neutral language in legislation 4. Assessment of the Proposed EU Regulation on Artificial Intelligence 5. Closing Remarks LITHUANIA E-government in Context of Principles of Good Governance 1. Introduction 2. Review of the Lithuanian public administration sector system and the level and future development of e-government in Lithuania 2.1 Structure of the Lithuanian public administration sector 2.2 Formulating and coordinating public policy on public administration 2.3 Digital transformation of Lithuanian public governance 2.4 Electronic government gateways. Portal of Lithuanian administrative and public services 2.5 Information Society Development Outlook 2022 3. Lithuania’s legal framework for public administration with a focus on the relevant parts of national constitution and the human rights. 4. The current Lithuanian administrative law system in terms of the content of the values of democracy and the rule of law, trust in public administration and respect for citizens' rights 4.1 National audit reports 5. Proposed EU AI Regulation to complement Lithuanian administrative law 5.1 IT services in Lithuanian courts 5.2 LITEKO (Lithuanian Court Information System) 5.3 Ensuring the speed and security of the Judicial Information System and the modernisation and development of electronic court services 5.4 Hearings of Lithuanian courts 6. Conclusions and proposals for legislative reforms in Lithuania to bring administrative law into the digital space NORWAY Current Trends and Challenges in the Legal Framework Abstract 1. Overview of Public Sector and Digitalisation Projects 1.1 Organization of the Public Sector 1.2 Implemented and Planned Projects 2. Overview of the Legal Framework in Supporting Digitization, Values and Rights 2.1 Relevant Legal Framework for the Protection of Human Rights 2.2 Core Principles and Values Guiding Public Sector Digitalisation in Norway 3. Adequacy of the Legal Framework in Supporting Digitalisation, Values and Rights 3.1 Adequacy of Current (or Emerging) Framework in Supporting Digitalisation 3.2 Adequacy of Current (or Emerging) Framework in Strengthening Values and Rights 3.3 Emerging Trends and Challenges 4. Impact of Proposed EU AI Act 4.1 The Impact of the Proposed AI Act in Strengthening Human Rights Protection 4.2 The Impact of the Proposed AI Act in Enabling Public Agencies’ Use of AI 5. Assessment of National Legislative Reforms 6. Conclusion SWEDEN Rule of Law in the Digital Age: Legal Landscape for Public Digitalisation Abstract 1. Digitalising the Public Sector in Sweden 1.1. Introduction to the Swedish Administrative Model 1.2. A Model Built on a Separation of Functions Rather than of Powers 1.3. Digitalisation in the Face of the Decentralised Swedish Administrative Order 2. Swedish Rule of Law and Good Administration Principles in Light of Public Sector Digitalisation 2.1 Swedish Public Sector Digitalisation and Human Rights Law 2.2 Swedish Public Digitalisation and Constitutional Law 2.3 Swedish Public Digitalisation and Administrative Law 3. Trajectories in Swedish Public Sector Digitalisation Efforts 3.1 ‘Digital first’ for Enhanced Service and Efficiency 3.2 The Agency for Digital Government as One Node for the Strategic Development of Digital Administration 3.3 Cross-authority Collaborations as One Strategy to Facilitate Digitalisation 3.4 The Swedish Regulatory Approach to Digitalisation 4. Swedish Public Sector Accountability in the Digital Era 4.1 Democratic Accountability 4.2 The Role of Courts and Supervisory Bodies in Enforcing Accountability 5. The Proposed EU Regulation on Artificial Intelligence from a Swedish Perspective 6. Conclusions 6.1 Dimensions of legality-challenges 6.2 Rule-of-Law Proactiveness: Mitigating Risks Through Impact Assessments 6.3 Rule-of-Law Responsiveness: Addressing Consequences Through Diligent Oversight 6.4 Need for a Wide Lens on Technology-Induced Risks to the Rule of Law

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