디지털 시대의 행정절차법: 개혁과 과제 - 자동화 행정행위의 절차규정 정비를 중심으로 -

As the digitalization of administration progresses, reform of administrative procedure law is urgently needed. The digitalization of public administration signals significant changes and challenges to administrative law. These developments will bring about a paradigm shift in administrative procedure law. Notably, the German Federal Administrative Procedure Act has introduced provisions related to digital administrative law. The Korean Administrative Procedure Act must also be systematically revised. The Korean Administrative Procedure Act must establish provisions for electronic communication between citizens and public administration, and revise the legal basis for automated administrative acts. The digital transformation of public administration is closely related to the administrative automation. With the introduction of provisions on “automated disposition” in Article 20 of the Korean General Public Administration Act, there is an urgent need to revise the procedural provisions on automated administrative acts in the Korean Administrative Procedure Act. In my opinion, it would be advisable to first revise the provisions on partially automated administrative acts in the Korean Administrative Procedure Act and then gradually introduce procedural provisions on fully automated administrative acts. This is also the case in Germany’s legislative examples. There are still few concrete cases of fully automated administrative acts. In this regard, exceptions must be established for prior notice, hearing of opinions, and statement of reasons, all of which are unfamiliar to automated administrative acts. However, it is also important to consider measures that ensure procedural rights of parties together. According to Article 20 of the Korean General Act on Public Administration, the introduction of automated decisions includes those made by systems utilizing “artificial intelligence” technology. Considering the uncertainty of science and technology, as well as the risks posed by artificial intelligence, I believe it would be advisable to temporarily exclude decisions made by artificial intelligence systems from the scope of the current Korean Administrative Procedure Act. Should these types of decisions become more prevalent in the future, the regulations governing them must be systematically revised. However, given the increasing digitization of administration and the rise of artificial intelligence, it is necessary to include provisions in the Administrative Procedure Act regarding the activation of administrative actions using artificial intelligence technology. Additionally, provisions to prevent violations of personality rights, discrimination, and bias resulting from the use of artificial intelligence technology should be considered. Reform of the Administrative Procedure Act should be pursued alongside reform of the Administrative Litigation Act. Reform of the Administrative Procedure Act should drive reform of the stagnant Administrative Litigation Act. Furthermore, reform of the Administrative Procedure Act should be pursued without interruption and carried out across the entire administrative process. Improvements to administrative planning related to large-scale public projects, and legislative procedures with citizen’s participation should also be considered. I look forward to the Administrative Procedure Act reform, which will pave the way for digital administration and automation.