Missing Evidence? the Duty to Acquire Systemic Data in Public Law

Public officials often determine how far they should proactively inquire as to the impact of public policies or their chosen modes of administration. They are also often accused of failing to collect valuable systemic data capable of being captured with minimal effort. Such concerns are growing in an increasingly digitalised state where the possibilities of collecting administrative data with little burden are expanding. This chapter examines the duties that public law places on public bodies in respect of such decisions. We argue that established case law in this domain—rooted both in common law and statute—can be viewed fruitfully as providing a ‘duty to acquire systemic data,’ which can and should be more fully realised in practice