Call for papers
Technology and (Dis)Trust
AI between confidence and controversy
As technology shifts the focus from retrospective justice to preemptive control, from deliberation to optimization, and from state power to private influence, trust becomes an ever more contested terrain—at once constructed, eroded and renegotiated across multiple domains of law.
This year, the fourth edition of the IE Lawtomation Days seeks to explore the effectiveness and limits of regulation through the lens of trust. How can legal frameworks sustain trustworthiness in AI-driven decision-making and digital governance? How can law not only inform automation but also ensure faith in the institutions and mechanisms it establishes? Is law the most appropriate tool to build trust, or should other mechanisms, such as ethics, corporate responsibility and technical safeguards, play a greater role in fostering confidence in digital ecosystems?
Building on the interdisciplinary nature of our “Lawtomation” Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, we encourage submissions from all the branches of law (for instance, consumer, criminal, labour, public, private, international, environmental and competition law), as well as from other fields, including political science, sociology, philosophy and ethics. We aim to bridge the gap between theoretical reflections and the practical assessment of how legal initiatives shape and sustain trustworthy digital arenas. By fostering multidisciplinary exchanges, we aspire to challenge dominant narratives and provide a deeper understanding of trust in the digital era.
The two-day conference will feature inspiring keynote speeches, panel discussions and opportunities for networking and cross-generational and cross-disciplinary exchange, including chilling social events. Over the years, the IE Lawtomation Days have become a flagship initiative in the international community, known for their high-quality contributions, friendly atmosphere, collegial environment and the richness of intellectual exchanges. Participants in the previous editions have recognized this conference as a not-to-miss opportunity that fosters meaningful connections.
Themes
Our goal is to provide a platform for thought-provoking research that goes beyond surface-level evaluations, critically engaging with policy, legal, judicial and business perspectives.
We welcome contributions that adopt comparative or global perspectives, as well as in-depth case studies that, while grounded in specific jurisdictions, engage with questions of broader significance. Whether through cross-country analysis or focused national or regional examples, we are particularly interested in work that can speak to a transnational audience and contribute to wider theoretical or policy debates around trust-building in the digital domain.
We invite submissions that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
- Democratic governance: Examining the role of digitization in shaping democratic processes, citizen engagement and accountability mechanisms.
- Blurred boundaries between public and private law: Analyzing how digital infrastructures and platform governance complicate the distinction between public authority and private power.
- Impact on inequality, innovation and economic growth: Assessing whether emerging technologies contribute to the ever-increasing wealth gap, or if they hold some potential remedies.
- The digital work environment: Exploring how digitization shapes business practices and workers’ experiences, including its effects on individual and collective labour rights.
- Societal and ethical considerations: Investigating the societal and ethical dimensions of new technologies, including their implications for fairness, empowerment and social justice.
- Transparency and fairness in markets: Examining how algorithmic systems affect the openness, accountability, transparency and fairness of transactions and relationships.
- Transformation of the internal market: Exploring the impact of automation on competition, consumer rights and the functioning of the internal market.
- Environmental sustainability: Evaluating the environmental consequences of the digital transition and its potential to contribute to sustainable development goals.
- Evolving roles of key actors: Examining how companies, public institutions, courts and civil society organizations shape—and contest—the development, deployment and regulation of AI.
- Global competition: Exploring how geopolitical rivalries shape the design of standards, legal frameworks and governance models in areas such as AI, cybersecurity and data regulation.
- Regional regulatory philosophies: Comparing the normative foundations that underpin regulatory approaches, and examining how these models travel, adapt or clash across borders.
- Reflecting on recent initiatives: Evaluating the effectiveness of the recent wave of digital, data and platform regulations at the EU level considering how they are being enforced or contested.
- The future of academia: Delving into how EdTech and GenAI are reshaping academic practices, research methodologies and the dissemination of knowledge.
Keynote speakers
- Ignacio Cofone, University of Oxford
- Veena Dubal, University of California, Irvine
- Michèle Finck, University of Tübingen
- Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell, University Carlos III of Madrid
- More speakers to be announced soon
Submission process
Two types of submission are possible: individual abstracts and fully formed panels. Submissions must be written in English.
- Interested participants in individual capacity are encouraged to submit an abstract of no more than 500 words.
- Proposals for fully formed panels should include between four and five presentations by participants who have agreed in advance to give their presentations and attend the conference in person. The panel chair can also be a speaker. Submitters will be asked to provide the title and a 500-word description of the panel. They should also identify the names and email addresses of all panel participants. A title should also be provided for each presenter’s contribution.
- Proponents can participate in multiple roles, including as presenters, chairs or discussants.
The deadline for submission is Sunday, 15 June 2025.
Selection criteria and review process
Submissions will be considered by the members of the IE Lawtomation Jean Monnet Centre, based on an assessment of their quality, relevance to the call’s themes and the need to cover a diverse range of topics representing a variety of perspectives and backgrounds.
Final decisions on acceptance will be notified by Monday, 30 June 2025.
Selected authors will be asked to submit a draft (paper, extended abstract or presentation) by Monday, 22 September 2025 for circulation among the speakers and panel chairs. There are no specific format guidelines or style requirements.
Publication arrangements will be finalized at the end of the conference. Submissions will be considered for inclusion in a special edition of a DigiBook dedicated to Lawtomation, developed in partnership with DigiCon and subject to the standard review process. We also welcome proposals and papers intended for publication in alternative venues.
Relevant dates
- Proposal submission: Sunday, 15 June 2025
- Notification of acceptance: Monday, 30 June 2025
- Registration by participants: Friday, 25 July 2025
- Submission of materials: Monday, 22 September 2025
- Conference dates: Thursday, 2 and Friday, 3 October 2025
Conference format
The conference will be held fully in-person to make the most out of this exciting event.
Thematic sessions will be organized with a cross-disciplinary approach to stimulate reflection and comparison.
Presentations will be organized into chaired panels and the presentation time for each participant will be 15 minutes (12 minutes if there are five participants).
There are no registration fees. The costs for meals and coffee breaks will be covered by the organization. A social dinner will be hosted on the first evening of the conference.
Participants are kindly requested to arrange their travel and accommodation independently, ensuring their presence at the conference venue during the scheduled dates.
Event venue
The conference will take place in Madrid, Spain, at the IE University Tower (also known as Caleido), located on Paseo de la Castellana 259E, 28046 Madrid. Directions can be found here.
Organizing committee
Francisco de Elizalde, Antonio Aloisi, Marina Aksenova, Giulio Allevato, Federica Coppola, François Delerue, Yuliya Kaspiarovich, Antonios Kouroutakis, Guadalupe Martínez, Francesca Palmiotto, Fernando Pastor, Lazar Radic, Sergio Verdugo, Bart Wauters
If you have any questions, please contact us at Luke.Jenkins@ie.edu and Isabel.Garces@ie.edu
Partners
Research Project
PID2023-149184OB-C43 granted by MCIU /AEI /10.13039/501100011033 and the FSE+
Computing the law, regulating the algorithm:
the transformative power of digital ecosystems
Much change has happened in recent years. Large segments of today’s society are automated, at least in part, raising the need for further cross-disciplinary discussions. Hence, we are delighted to announce the third edition of the “Lawtomation Days” conference.
This year, we aim to ideally “square the circle”. The key theme of the conference is the transformative power of digital ecosystems. We want to explore how technological advancements can be harnessed to create more sustainable, inclusive and ethically grounded environments. The quest for deeper analyses should prompt participants to engage in cross-disciplinary research, in line with the spirit of our Centre. Thus, we invite scholars to explore connections between different fields and methodologies to foster a holistic understanding of the issues at hand, and possibly challenge prevailing narratives. Ultimately, the goal is to provide a space for thought-provoking research that can drive forward the research agenda.
On the one hand, the conference intends to explore how law can pursue the goal of automation in fields such as consumer law, criminal law, labour law, public law, private law and trade law. On the other, it aims to provide a constructive assessment of the multiple regulatory and legislative initiatives adopted to govern the digital world, including instances of institutional activism such as the AI Act, the DMA, the DSA, the Data Act, the AI Liability and Product Liability Directives, the Data Governance Act and the Platform Work Directive.
This conference edition aims to inject a much-needed dose of realism into a world grappling with contrasting attitudes—hype and alarmism—to shed light on the effectiveness, pitfalls and potential areas for improvement in existing legal instruments. From a methodological standpoint, we emphasize critical approaches to broaden the discourse and incorporate perspectives often overlooked. We invite proposals that not only provide insights into recent developments but also critically engage with policy, legal, judicial and business advancements. We encourage contributions that explore the impacts of automation on democracy and the rule of law, fundamental rights, the environment and markets.
The two-day conference will feature inspiring keynote speeches and panel discussions, as well as ample opportunities for networking and exchange across disciplines and generations, including during social events. Over the past years, participants have identified the “Lawtomation Days” as a flagship initiative in the academic community for the quality of contributions, harmony of the environment and richness of the connections.
Themes
We welcome submissions that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
Policy and legal implications: Analyzing the consequences of automation on policy drafting, legal frameworks and judicial proceedings.
The digital work environment: Exploring how digitization shapes business practices and workers’ experiences, including its impact on individual and collective labour rights.
Transformation of the internal market: Exploring the impact of automation on competition, consumer rights and the functioning of the internal market.
Democratic governance: Examining the role of digitization in shaping democratic processes, citizen engagement and accountability mechanisms.
Societal and ethical considerations: Investigating the societal and ethical dimensions of new technologies, including their implications for fairness, privacy and social justice.
Environmental sustainability: Assessing the environmental consequences of the digital transition and its potential to contribute to sustainable development goals.
The future of academia: Delving into how EdTech and GenAI are reshaping academic practices, research methodologies and the dissemination of knowledge.
These topics may be approached from various angles, such as:
- Oversight, transparency and accountability
- Fairness, bias and discrimination
- Algorithms and AI systems in workplaces
- Economic, social and environmental implications
- EU law and the twin (green and digital) transition
- The impact on human and social rights
- The global, regional and national race to regulate technologies
- Data protection in action and the notion of harm
- AI liability/product liability
- Risk-based approaches in regulation
- The role of AI and ADM in ensuring more equitable justice systems
- The contribution of AI to social justice
- Personalization, vulnerability and fragmentation in consumer markets
- Generative AI and large language models
- AI in the corporate boardroom
Keynote speakers
- Omri Ben-Shahar University of Chicago Law School
- Lilian Edwards Newcastle Law School
- Oliver Goodenough Vermont Law School
- Uma Rani International Labour Office (ILO)
- More speakers to be announced soon
Submission process
Two types of submission are possible: individual abstracts and fully formed panels. Submissions must be written in English.
- Interested participants in individual capacity are encouraged to submit an abstract of no more than 500 words.
- Proposals for fully formed panels should include between four and five presentations by participants who have agreed in advance to give their presentations. The panel chair can also be a speaker. Submitters will be asked to provide the title and a 500-word description of the panel. They should also identify the names and email addresses of all panel participants. A title should also be provided for each presenter’s contribution.
The deadline for submission is Saturday, 15 June 2024.
Selection criteria and review process
Submissions will be considered by the members of the IE “Lawtomation” Jean Monnet Centre, based on an assessment of their quality, relevance to the call’s themes, and the need to cover a diverse range of topics representing a variety of perspectives and backgrounds.
Final decisions on acceptance will be notified by Monday, 15 July 2024.
Selected authors will be asked to submit a draft (paper, extended abstract or presentation) by Friday, 13 September 2024 for circulation among the speakers and panel chairs.
Publication plans will be discussed at the end of the conference. However, we welcome proposals and papers intended for publication elsewhere.
Relevant dates
- Abstract submission: Saturday, 15 June
- Notification of acceptance: Monday, 15 July
- Registration by participants: Thursday, 1 August
- Submission of materials: Friday, 13 September
- Conference dates: Thursday and Friday, 26 and 27 September
Event venue
The conference will take place in Madrid, Spain, at IE University.
To make the most out of this exciting event, the conference will be fully in-person.
Conference format
Thematic sessions will be organized with a cross-disciplinary approach to stimulate reflection and comparison.
Presentations will be organized into chaired panels and the presentation time for each participant will be 15 minutes (12 minutes if there are five participants).
There are no registration fees. The costs for meals will be covered by the organization. A no-show-up policy will be enforced.
Participants are kindly requested to arrange their travel and accommodation independently, ensuring their presence at the conference venue during the scheduled dates.
Organizing committee
Convenors: Francisco de Elizalde, Antonio Aloisi, Federica Coppola, François Delerue, Guadalupe Martínez, Yuliya Kaspiarovich.
If you have any questions, please contact us at Isabel.Garces@ie.edu and Luke.Jenkins@ie.edu.
The shifting legal landscape of automated decision-making and artificial intelligence
We are thrilled to announce the second edition of the “Lawtomation Days” conference on the shifting legal landscape of automated decision-making and artificial intelligence. This cross-disciplinary conference will bring together academics from diverse fields to discuss the opportunities and challenges raised by these impactful technologies across different areas of law and in a wide range of sectors.
Automated decision-making (ADM) is the use of algorithms, machine learning, or AI to make decisions without significant human intervention. Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are understood as software that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, generate outputs such as content, predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing the environments they interact with.
ADM and AI systems can assume or support choices based on probabilistic determinations. The model involves inputting large amounts of data into a computer system, which then uses pre-determined statistical models to make decisions. Far from being merely descriptive, these systems entail the possibility of predicting and prescribing conduct, thus pressuring natural and legal persons to comply with rules intended to shape their behaviour.
We are witnessing the growing adoption of ADM and AI systems by governments, administrative authorities and courts. This trend encompasses decisions about migration visas, tax inspection, social and welfare policies, applications in law enforcement and criminal justice, and administrative sanctions. At the same time, ADM and AI systems are widely adopted by private actors to monitor and enforce contracts, make hiring decisions and organize employees and self-employed persons, assess credit trustworthiness, or profile consumers and personalize prices.
While well-designed ADM and AI systems can bring many benefits, such as increased efficiency, capacity and growth, it also raises important legal questions about their transparency, accountability and fairness. This requires careful consideration and analysis, beyond traditional thematic clusters and field-specific approaches. We are convinced that it is of utmost importance to consider their sociolegal and societal implications and ensure that such systems are used to pursue benign, responsible, lawful and ethical goals.
The two-day conference will provide a cutting-edge forum for academics, researchers and experts to discuss the promises and perils of ADM and AI. It will feature prominent keynote speeches and panel discussions, as well as ample opportunities for networking and knowledge exchange, including during social events.
Themes
We welcome submissions on this non-exhaustive list of topics and related themes:
- Oversight, transparency, safety and accountability
- Fairness, bias, and discrimination
- New and old liability regimes
- AI in workplaces
- Economic, social and environmental implications
- The impact on human and social rights
- The political economy
- The global, regional and national race to regulate technologies
- Data protection in action
- Risk-based approaches in regulation
- Data-driven and evidence-based policies
- Predictive and prescriptive systems
- Personalization in consumer markets
- Generative AI and large language models
- Misinformation and manipulation
- AI in the corporate boardroom
Submission process
Interested participants are encouraged to submit an abstract of no more than 500 words via the dedicated online form. Abstracts must be written in English.
The deadline for submission is Thursday, 15 June 2023.
Selection criteria and review process
Submissions will be considered by the conference’s convenors and the members of the Lawtomation JMCoE, based on an assessment of their quality, relevance to themes of the call, and the need to cover a diverse range of topics representing a variety of perspectives and backgrounds.
Final decisions on acceptance will be notified by Saturday, 15 July 2023.
Authors will be asked to submit a complete draft by Friday, 15 September 2023 for circulation among the speakers, if selected.
Publication plans will be discussed at the end of the conference. However, we welcome proposals and papers intended for publication elsewhere.
Relevant dates
- Abstract submission: Thursday, 15 June 2023
- Notification of acceptance: Saturday, 15 July 2023
- Confirmation by participants: Monday, 1 August 2023
- Submission of materials: Friday, 15 September 2023
- Conference: Thursday and Friday, 28 and 29 September 2023
Event format
The conference will take place in Madrid, Spain, at the IE Tower.
Thematic sessions will be organized with a cross-disciplinary approach to stimulate reflection and comparison. Presentations will be organized into chaired panels and the presentation time for each participant will be 15/20 minutes.
There are no registration fees. The costs for lunches and coffee breaks will be covered by the organization.
Contact details
Convenors: Francisco de Elizalde, Antonio Aloisi, Antonios Kouroutakis, Bart Wauters, Fernando Pastor-Merchante, François Delerue, María Guadalupe Martínez, Sara Sánchez.
If you have any questions, please contact us at isabel.garces@ie.edu
Privacy policy
The data collected are processed by IE Universidad and Instituto de Empresa, S.L. (together, “IE”) to register, analyze and select the articles and publications submitted by the applicants for presentation at the conference and, if necessary, to contact the authors. The legal basis for the processing is the consent given, which can be withdrawn at any time. However, in the case of withdrawal of consent, this will not affect the lawfulness of the processing carried out previously. The selected contributions will be published on the conference website, only if specific consent is given. Applicants may exercise their rights of access, rectification, erasure, opposition, restriction of processing and portability of the data via email to soportededatos@ie.edu. Applicants may lodge a complaint to the Spanish Agency for Data Protection, at the address indicated by it at any time if they consider that IE has violated their rights which are recognized by the applicable data protection regulation. Notwithstanding the foregoing, applicants may contact the IE’s Data Protection Officer at dataprivacyoffice@ie.edu. More information about IE privacy policy can be found here: Privacy Policy (ie.edu)
Lawtomation Days 2022
For the launch of the Lawtomation: Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, we would like to invite scholars, postdoc and Ph.D. researchers to present their papers.
IE University Law School, with the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, is happy to announce that we are officially launching the “Lawtomation” Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence.
We will host at the IE Tower in Madrid, a multidisciplinary conference aimed at exploring the relationship between law and automation, as well as the impact of algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) on constitutional values, human rights, workplace practices and legal remedies.
For this purpose, we would like to invite scholars, postdoc and Ph.D. researchers from different disciplines to present working papers, academic publications, and research projects in line with the objectives and interests of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence (JMCoE).
We welcome abstracts that fit broadly within the concept of the conference, and particularly one of the themes of:
- Democracy, Human Rights and the Rule of Law.
- Legaltech and E-Justice.
- Artificial Intelligence and Algorithmic Management at the Workplace.
We encourage submissions from lawyers and legal professionals, social scientists, and computer scientists. Researchers with a multidisciplinary orientation and/or with a focus on empirical methods will be particularly appreciated.
TOPICS
We expect submissions related to, but not limited to, the following topics:
- Democracy, Human Rights and the Rule of Law
- Democracy and political governance in the automated state.
- Possibilities and challenges raised by the automation of the administration and the emergence of the algorithmic state.
- Constitutional adjudication and administrative justice in the algorithmic era.
- The enforcing of laws, and enabling of rights through algorithmic means.
- New forms of potentially overarching state power and their impact on human rights.
- Legal Tech and E-justice: the future of the legal profession
- The transformations taking place in the legal sector, looking at either/both private and public bodies (law firms/ courts, etc.)
- The promises and perils of algorithmic decision-making in the judiciary or as ADR
- Digitization of justice systems within and beyond the EU.
- E-justice and civil procedure: need for new rules?
- Modernization of the ‘old’ institutions (courts) or creation/further development of new (ODR etc.)?
- AI and Algorithmic Management at the Workplace
- AI, algorithmic management, and their impacts on labor and social institutions.
- Data protection and the rise of data-driven technologies at work.
- Challenges to non-discrimination and health and safety frameworks.
- The future of work in the EU: the Social Pillar in search of (digital) sustainability.
- Social dialogue, collective agreements, and co-determination of workplace technologies.
Interested participants are encouraged to submit an abstract of no more than 500 words via the dedicated online form.
Abstracts must be written in English.
The deadline for submission is June 20th, 2022.
SELECTION CRITERIA AND REVIEW PROCESS
Submissions will be considered by the conference’s convenors and the members of the Centre, based on an assessment of their quality, their relevance to the Centre’s interests, and the need to cover a diverse range of topics representing a variety of perspectives and backgrounds.
Final decisions on acceptance will be notified by July 25th, 2022.
If selected, authors will be asked to submit a complete draft by September 15th, 2022 for circulation among the speakers.
Publication plans will be discussed at the end of the conference. However, we welcome proposals and papers intended for publication elsewhere.
EVENT FORMAT
The conference will take place in September, in a face-to-face format at the IE Tower in Madrid, Spain.
Thematic sessions will be organized (public law, private law, law and tech, labour law, law and policy, data science, among others). Presentations will be organized into chaired panels and the presentation time for each participant will be 15/20 minutes.
There are no registration fees.
The costs for lunches and coffee breaks will be covered by the organization.
Early-stage researchers who cannot afford travel expenses can apply for a travel grant, indicating the envisaged costs.
Side activities will be organized, including city tours of Madrid and Segovia.
RELEVANT DATES
- Submission deadline: June 20th, 2022
- Notification: July 25th, 2022
- Confirmation by participants: August 30th, 2022
- Submission of materials: September 15th, 2022
- Conference: September 30th, 2022
CONTACT DETAILS
Convenors: Francisco de Elizalde, Antonio Aloisi, Antonios Kouroutakis, Argyri Panezi, Fernando Pastor-Merchante; IE University Law School and IE University.
If you have any questions, please contact us: Isabel.Garces@ie.edu