The use of selection algorithms in universities: framework and uses

Semaine Juridique – Administration et collectivités – 08.06.2020.

Romain Chilly published an article at the Semaine Juridique – Administration et collectivités territoriales (Legal Week – Administration and Local Authorities) on the use of selection algorithms at university.

The article highlights the conditions under which a public institution of higher education may use such a tool and the resulting obligations of transparency and communication.
In particular, it refers to a recent decision of the French Constitutional Court, which established the existence of a constitutionally valid principle for the communication of administrative documents, including the source codes of the software and processing algorithms used by the administration.

However, this principle of transparency is not absolute, and the conditions under which it must be reconciled with other considerations of public interest, including the principle of the sovereignty of the jury and the principle of preserving the secrecy of deliberations, are recalled.

Also, although enshrined in the law of 7 October 2016 for a Digital Republic, the principle of the communicability of the rules defining algorithmic processing finds its first obstacle in the context of university selection.