Danish Digital Design and the Gradual Erosion of Technology Neutral Administrative Law

Purpose: Holding pole position in the digital race, Denmark is an EU member state that not only has inherent incentives for self-scrutiny to avoid digital hybris but also serves as an inspiration for other countries aiming to move into the fast lane of digital designs. In the wake of strong digitization within Danish public administration, a fundamental legal question arises: does digitization change the core content of general administrative law? Against this backdrop, the purpose of this article is to examine the existing Danish doctrine of technology neutral law, which asserts that digitization does not interfere with substantive law and does not negatively affect citizens’ rights.
Approach: The article establishes a discussion based on relevant sources of law such as the Danish political agreement on digitally ready legislation, examples of sectoral legislation (parts of Danish tax law), and the practices and recommendations of the influential Danish Parliamentary Ombudsman.
Findings: The article’s conceptual finding is that the doctrine of technology neutral law is not fully justified. In 2024, Danish legislation is increasingly designed to be digitally compatible from the very beginning, which is a significant shift. This new legislative concept has been named digitally ready legislation (digital by design), denoting legislation that is ready and “pre-cooked” in its phrasing and concepts to be transformed into subsequent digital solutions. Another finding of the article is that the proactive digital focus of the new regulation (acts and general administrative regulation) may come at a cost, potentially reducing the flexibility and adaptive quality of regulatory templates that are crucial to the rule of law.