Liane Huttner
University Paris Saclay
Defining Automated Decisions in EU Digital Law
Abstract
The concept of automated decision-making (ADM) is central to European digital law. Qualifying a decision as automated entails the application of some of the most discussed and important rules in the discipline. For instance, the right to explanation of a decision based on an AI system found in article 86 of the AIA applies exclusively to automated decisions. Similarly, the right to obtain human intervention in article 22 (3) of the GDPR only exists when the primary decision is fully automated.
Despite this, the concept of ADM remains difficult to grasp. There are no consensual definitions or precise criteria. Though much has been written on the theoretical aspects of the concept, the majority of the existing literature lacks practical implications. For this reason, my research largely focuses on finding a coherent understanding of the concept, which could apply transversally in EU and Member States' laws.
To this end, I have collected and studied a large body of case law and data protection authority decisions. In doing so, I have created a framework for the jurisprudential analysis of ADM, highlighting the decisive criteria for defining it. In this talk, I will critically present these findings, and suggest how they can be applied in both theory and practice.
About
Liane Huttner is an Assistant Professor at Paris-Saclay University. Specialised in digital law with a focus on data protection and AI, she holds a PhD in Law from the University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. Her first book on algorithmic decision-making received three prizes in her native France, including the André Isoré Prize from the University of Paris. Her works have been published in journals such as Artificial Intelligence & Law, Communication Commerce Electronique, and Dalloz IP/IT.
Dr Huttner has been a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford and at the Max Planck Institute of Hamburg. She was also a Max Weber postdoctoral fellow at the European University Institute. In 2025, she is a Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Comparative Law Initiative visiting scholar.
She has advised public bodies including the French data protection authority and the French government committee on AI, on topics relating to law and technologies. Dr Huttner is also the co-creator of Catala, a domain specific computer language.