Institutional-Digital Sustainability: Reformulating Sustainability as a Structural Principle of the Digital Rule of Law
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34625/issn.2183-2705(40.1)2026.ic-16Keywords:
Sustainability, Rule of Law, Institutional-Digital Sustainability, Digital Platforms, Algorithmic GovernanceAbstract
The concept of sustainability is firmly established in contemporary law and traditionally associated with environmental protection, intergenerational justice, and socio-economic stability. However, this ecological paradigm proves insufficient in the context of the digitalisation of normative infrastructures, where digital platforms and algorithmic systems exercise structural power over public space, information flows, and the exercise of fundamental rights.
This article proposes a conceptual reformulation of sustainability through the introduction of institutional-digital sustainability as a new structural pillar of the rule of law. It argues that preserving the rule of law in the digital age depends not only on environmental and economic protection but also on the integrity, transparency, contestability, and resilience of digital infrastructures shaping social and economic relations.
Adopting a legal-dogmatic and systematic approach, the study connects digital constitutionalism with the European regulatory framework, particularly the Digital Services Act (DSA), Digital Markets Act (DMA), and Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act). The article concludes that institutional-digital sustainability operates as an autonomous normative parameter requiring enhanced transparency, accountability, and institutional diligence from large digital platforms and algorithmic systems.
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