‘The Justification Machine’ - Automating Reason-Giving

The article analyses how automation in public administration reshapes the duty to give reasons for administrative decisions. It conceptualises “automated reasoning” as the design of machine-based justifications, extending beyond standard reasons to the selection, weighting, and communication ofvariables and legal norms. Using a tripartite framework, factual circumstances,discretionary factual assessments, and legal circumstances, it shows how modeldesign can conceal discretion, overload recipients with complex variable interactions, or shift justificatory burdens through hyper-links and external repositories. Drawing on the Danish property-valuation system and insights from Finnish, German, Norwegian, and Danish law, the article demonstrates a growing regulation of automated discretion but an absence of standards for explanations. It argues that GDPR Article 15(1)(h), as interpreted by the CJEU in the seminal Dun &Bradstreet judgement, together with the AI Act Article 86, should guide ex ante administrative system design so that automated reasons remain human-intelligible and reviewable.