Cyber Law, 2024-2025 - Prospectus

Admission requirements

None, but please note that this class is based on European and international law, not Dutch law. All lectures will be given in English.

Description

This course addresses some of the most urgent policy issues in connection with information technologies, with a focus on the Internet. After an introduction into the functioning and governance of global information technology infrastructures, the course tackles a series of specific subject matters and inquires how regulatory regimes on the international and European level respond to these challenges. These subject matters include in particular:

The right to privacy, data protection, and its relationship to surveillance by private and state actors
Mis- and disinformation online and the ways it is addressed in international and European law, especially through platform regulation
Hate speech, incitement to violence, and atrocity crimes
User-generated social media content and its evidentiary value in crisis situations
Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and approaches to its regulation in Europe
The increasing use of AI in state security and its status under international human rights law and other international legal frameworks

Classes

Please note that attendance in this class is mandatory.

Course objectives

The course Cyber Law has the following main objectives:

To provide students with basic insights into the most urgent policy challenges in the context of contemporary digital technologies
To enable students to identify different approaches to governing contemporary digital technologies on the European and international level
To provide students with the intellectual tools to critically interrogate current approaches to regulating digital technologies
To empower students to imagine alternative ways to regulate contemporary digital technologies in light of current and future political and societal challenges

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

Describe the most relevant policy considerations to increase the governance density concerning digital technologies
Give an overview of the most important legislative interventions regarding digital technologies internationally and in Europe
Critically evaluate regulatory solutions to the identified policy challenges in the context of digital technologies
Anticipate future developments in the field of governing digital technologies
Provide written assessments of existing legal frameworks on the international and European level

Timetable

Check MyTimetable.

Mode of instruction

Number of (2 hour) lectures: 10
Names of lecturers: Dr. H.C. Lahmann, with the possibility of guest lecturers
Required preparation by students: Reading the obligatory study materials on Brightspace
Interactive lectures for which attendance is mandatory. Registration is required (in MyStudymap/Usis all interactive lectures are mentioned as working groups).

Assessment method

Written exam.

Submission procedures
Will be announced on Brightspace.

Regulation retake passed exams
In this course it is possible to retake an exam that has been passed (cf. art. 4.1.8 and further of the Course and Examination Regulations). Students who have passed the exam may retake the final written assessment (test) of the course if they meet certain requirements. For more information, go to the website > ‘Law’ tab > ‘Retake a passed exam’.

Reading list

Obligatory course materials

Relevant information on this course, including many of the required study materials, is available on Brightspace. Students must have obtain access to the class textbook. A couple of copies are available in the Leiden Law Library. However, it is highly recommended that students purchase the class textbook. Online copies are not available for download.

Literature:

The reading list will be made available via the Class Page on Brightspace.
Class Textbook: Andrew Murray’s Information Technology and the Law (5th Edition, scheduled to be published in June 2023). Please do not buy earlier editions. Information Technology Law is a fast-moving area and earlier editions will be out-of-date.

Course information guide:

See Brightspace

Reader:

See Brightspace

Recommended course materials

See Brightspace

Registration

Registration for courses and exams takes place via MyStudymap. If you do not have access to MyStudymap (guest students), look here (under the Law-tab) for more information on the registration procedure in your situation.

When the maximum number of students have registered a waiting list will be opened at the secretariat. You should send an e-mail to elaw@law.leidenuniv.nl.

Cyber Law