I. Is there a national act containing a legal definition of Automated Administrative Decisions?

Law 40/2015, of 1 October, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector (Law 40/2015) defines the basic elements of automated administrative actions, security requirements, and transparency standards. This law was implemented by Royal Decree 203/2021 of 30 March, approving the regulation on the performance and functioning of the public sector by electronic means (Royal Decree 203/2021).

These are basic regulations to be applied to all Spanish public administrations (the National Government, the governments of the Autonomous Communities (regions), and the local authorities). According to these regulations, an automated administrative action is understood to be “any act or action performed entirely by electronic means by a public authority in the context of an administrative procedure without the direct intervention of a public sector employee.”

An automated administrative action is characterised by three elements. Firstly, it is an action performed by electronic means. Although neither Law 40/2015 nor Royal Decree 203/2021 defines what should be understood by electronic means, it has generally been taken to mean any digital medium, and artificial intelligence in particular.