Articoli

The paper presents an analysis of the Council of Europe Convention on Artificial Intelligence in the context of European and global AI regulation. This analysis is particularly pertinent in light of recent developments in AI, such as the release of ChatGPT, and the finalisation of the EU Regulation on AI. The study examines the potential of the Convention, noting that its scope extends beyond high-risk systems, such as the EU AI Law. The Convention reaffirms the importance of establishing regulatory principles, rights and guarantees, as well as adopting a risk-based approach. While the Convention remains overshadowed by the IIA Regulation and EU legislation, it can also be a significant framework for EU member states, offering a quasi-constitutional and symbolic value.

In the technique era, the concept of responsibility tends to lose its relevance or, at the very least, must be reformulated: it is the outcome of the intense investigation into the meaning of keywords or phrases such as “organization”, “complexity”, “organizational complexity”. The technique refers to the environment in which the organization, which is a technical apparatus, is designed and operates through its numerous actors.

The essay focuses on the key role of administrative courts, in light of art. 133 of the Code of Administrative Court Procedure, legislative decree no. 104/2010. They act as guarantors of competition rules in the field of services of general economic interest (SGEIs) of local relevance, together with the European institutions for the full and effective implementation of EU law.

The Italian judicial system may be about to make a historic transition: from the mere digitalization of its documents to a judicial activity shaped by the possibilities that digital technology offers, including the use of artificial intelligence techniques in the performance of the judicial function. This contribution offers a summary of the research carried out by the Authors, as members of the research group of the IUSS Pavia, within the NEXT GEN UPP project, launched in 2021 by the Italian Ministry of Justice with the aim of enhancing the digitalization of judicial activities, improving organizational processes and promoting the application of Legal Analytics (LA) tools to legal texts. The activity described in the essay concerns the design of “next-generation templates” functional for the drafting of acts by judges and lawyers: templates capable of maximizing the efficiency of judicial activities and creating an IT environment suitable for the use of the most advanced artificial intelligence technologies.

Since the early years of the European Coal and Steel Community, the system of government of the Communities and then of the European Union has been comparable to a dual parliamentary system. The European Commission needs a relationship of trust with both the Council (or European Council) and the European Parliament. Neither the importance of the European Council nor that of the European Parliament should be underestimated if the Union’s main institutions are to function smoothly.

The article analyses the conditions of lawfulness of the processing of personal data applicable to public administration in the exercise of their functions, in light of European and national legislation. The contribution suggests that the Italian legislation may not be compatible with European law. The Italian approach is to authorise the processing and exchange of personal data between public authorities whenever necessary for the pursuit of institutional purposes. By contrast, EU law requires a criterion of proportionality between the processing of data and the public purposes pursued.

After distinguishing between the use of Artificial Intelligence as a tool for public entities to carry out purchasing procedures and the use of Artificial Intelligence as the object of such purchases, the paper focuses on the rationale and limitations of considering public procurement as a tool for regulation. It is believed that establishing a systemic interaction between the government's purchase of AI and the regulation of AI itself is crucial. This would aid in determining the regulations and the quality of outcomes associated with the use of AI systems in the public sector.

In EU composite procedures, Open Data can serve many public interests in a new way, leading to faster and more accurate decision-making enabling truly ‘effective’ administrative action. The governance of interoperable public data across EU and member States, including Open Data, is one of the ongoing challenges in a digital world where administrations as platforms compete with each other, while Artificial Intelligence and the so-called space economy open up new frontiers for public law.

The paper aims to examine, with a critical approach, the new regulatory methods that anti-corruption mechanisms have introduced into our legal system. The topic is assessed by exploiting the dialectic between the concepts of knowledge and public power, drawing inspiration from Michael Foucault, who identifies power with a relationship of force. Building on these premises, the study delves into the relationship between the activities of public administration and technical-scientific assessments, specifically focusing on anti-corruption regulatory instruments, particularly in the context of public procurement.

One of the main innovations of the Italian Code of Public Contracts (adopted with Legislative Decree n. 36 of 2023) concerns the rules on “digitalization” in Book I of the Code (art. 19-36). This paper sets out the main innovations introduced by these provisions (with particular regard to the digital life cycle of a contract and the possibility of using automation systems) and highlights how they form a new paradigm, which is relevant not only in the field of public procurement, but also for administrative action in a broader sense.