행정의 디지털 전환과 행정법적 과제

Administrative law is facing new challenges as we enter the digital age. Public administration is changing rapidly with the rapid development of information and communication technologies (ICT). The digital transformation will have a significant impact on administrative law. The digitalization of public administration will raise a variety of legal issues in the field of administrative law, including administrative organization, administrative acts, administrative procedures, and administrative remedies. In the digital administration, the subject matter of an administrative decision is not clear. Determining the subject of an administrative decision is closely related to the legal nature of the decision and to the remedy. The legal nature of administrative decisions made by automated devices is also problematic. Article 20 of the Korean General Act on Public Administration provides for only fully automated administrative decisions. However administrative decisions based on AI systems present several problems. Administrative sanctions based on AI systems are already being introduced into existing laws, but there is still insufficient discussion in the academic community. One example is the electronic receipt of import declarations introduced in the Korean Imported Food Act. However, an import declaration may be deemed inadequate upon inspection by the Integrated Information System for Imported Foods (SAFE-i24), and acceptance may be refused. This refusal to accept is discretionary, and yet the law recognizes an automatic disposition for fully automated import declarations. There is also ambiguity as to who is responsible for fully automated import declarations and their rejection. Such problems may arise in administrative decisions based on algorithms. There is also an urgent need to clarify the applicability of administrative procedures and their exceptions in digital administration. If the refusal to accept a report is determined by an AI algorithm, the provisions of the Korean Administrative Procedure Act (KAPA), such as submission of comments, hearing, and giving reasons, should be revised. These issues will become important issues about public law remedies (administrative disputes, remittance of damages, etc.). The administrative law challenges posed by the digital transformation of public administration, including the issues mentioned above, need to be considered in depth. Digital administration will become a new topic in administrative law, and we look forward to serious discussions among scholars.