Workshop on: "Administrative Justice in the Digital Age"

This workshop will draw together leading scholars of administrative justice, with various disciplinary approaches and from diverse parts of the world. The workshop builds on previous work, including workshops organized at the IISJ and two anthologies published from these events and which were each edited by one of the authors of this proposal (M. Groves, A. Stuhmcke, The Ombudsman in the Modern State 2002 and J. Dahlvik, A Pohn-Weidinger (eds), New Directions in Ombuds Research 2026). Another relevant work that was edited by one of the authors and includes a paper from the other is YF Ng and M. Groves (eds), Automation in Governance: Theory, Practice and Problems 2025. This proposal will combine and extend the administrative justice themes of the ombuds books and the automation theme of the other book, to consider how administrative justice may adapt to the digital age.

The digital age is causing fundamental changes to all governments. Every country and government is affected, as are the people of every country. The growth of digitalization might change the face of government and its services. The key norms that underpin good government and public confidence in government, such as legality and fairness, will remain but their operation will undergo fundamental change. Administrative justice is one such norm. The need for governments and their agencies to meet the requirement of administrative justice will continue in the digital age but achieving that goal will require change that is as radical as digitalization itself.

This workshop will begin without assumptions, so that the key concepts of administrative justice are not presumed but instead are questioned. The speakers will include theorists who consider the nature and basis of administrative justice to engage radical questions such as whether human involvement is necessary for the delivery of justice. Empirical perspectives will be provided in two forms. There will be empirical analysis of specific issues from different jurisdictions. There will also be a focus on innovations within the empirical perspectives on administrative justice, such as exploring new quantitative approaches to empirical research or considering how administrative justice might be visualized rather than measured in more traditional ways.

The workshop will bring together theoretical and empirical research, interdisciplinary and comparative studies, to promote comprehensive understanding for and a global perspective on administrative justice as it is impacted by the digital age.