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Automation in Governance: Theory, Practice and Problems

Automation in Governance: Theory, Practice and Problems

Author: Yee-Fui Ng; Matthew Groves
Publisher: Hart Publishing
ISBN: 9781509984985
Published In: November 2025
Format: Hardback
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

List Price: HKD 1,235.00

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Description
Contents

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This book examines the principles and practice of automation in public governance.

Automation is changing the face of government and public law. This collection examines key challenges posed by automation, focusing on theoretical issues, case studies, as well as practices and proposals for reform.

It brings together scholars, public officials and judges from a range of jurisdictions, including the UK, the USA, Canada, Austria, France and the Netherlands to examine principles that should guide automation in government and what can be learned from the growing policy failures involving automation.

The book contains case studies of significant policy failures involving automation - the Dutch 'child benefits scandal', the Horizon accounting software used by the UK Post-Office and Australia's robodebt social security scandal. These chapters are valuable studies about policy failures involving automation and highlight lessons to be learned.

Making an important contribution to public law, governance and automation, the collection highlights challenges faced by all jurisdictions and draws out lessons from some serious failures of administration involving automation.

Introduction, Yee-Fi Ng (Monash University, Australia) and Matthew Groves (Deakin University, Australia)

Part One: Theory

1. The Resurgence of the Administrative Machine: New Forms of Dehumanisation, Julia Dahlvik (University of Applied Sciences, Austria)

2. Judicial Review Methodology in the Automated State, Lord Philip Sales (Supreme Court, UK)

3. AI and the New Surveillance Relationship with the State, Fraser Sampson (Sheffield Hallam University, UK)

4. The Rationality of Black Boxes in Administrative Law, David Tan (Deakin University, Australia)

Part Two: Problems

5. The Horizon Post Office Scandal and the Presumption of Computer Reliability, Alexandra Sinclair (London School of Economics, UK)

6. Revitalising the Rule of Law in the Digital Welfare State: Lessons from the Netherlands in the Aftermath of the Childcare Benefits Scandal, Maarten Bouwmeester (University of Groningen, the Netherlands)

7. Australia's Robodebt Scandal: Modern Governance or Age-Old Failure? Matthew Groves (Deakin University, Australia)

8. The Risks of Automating Refugee Status Decision-Making – Implications of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, Maria O'Sullivan (Deakin University, Australia)

9. AI in Migration Decision-Making in Australia, Daniel Ghezelbash (University of New South Wales, Australia)

Part Three: Practice

10. The Laws of Public Data Gaps, Joe Tomlinson (University of York, UK), Jed Meers (University of York, UK), Elizabeth O'Loughlin (University of Durham, UK), Cassandra Somers-Joce (University of Oxford, UK), Naoise Coakely (University of York, UK), Stergios Aidlinis (University of Durham, UK), and Oliver Butler (University of Nottingham, UK)

11. Automated Decision-making in UK Administrative Law, Robert Thomas (Manchester University, UK)

12. The Silent Scorers: Examining the US Government Use of Privately Generated Risk Scores, Victoria Adelment (New York University, USA)

13. Artificial Intelligence and Tribunals, Paul Daly (University of Ottawa, Canada)

14. Artificial Intelligence and Public Governance: A Comparative Perspective in Canada and the European Union, Céline Castets-Renard (University of Ottawa, Canada)

15. Automated Governance: History, Problems and Possibilities, Yee-Fui Ng and Stephen Gray (both at Monash University, Australia)

Conclusion, Yee-Fi Ng (Monash University, Australia) and Matthew Groves (Deakin University, Australia)