Course Information
This course focuses on the development of professional skills for legal practitioners the field of law and digital technologies.
The fast-paced development of digital technologies continuously changes society. Lawyers need appropriate professional skills to deal with this transformation in their work. In particular, legal professionals, who work for technology companies, or for law firms that represent such companies, need not only some understanding of the technologies these companies produce, but also how to communicate legal requirements with the designers and engineers of these technologies for them to implement. Similarly, legal professionals who advise governmental or international institutions and influence their policies in regards emerging technologies need to understand what (ethical) values are explicitly, or even implicitly, promoted and to challenge them. Practicum module #1 – Tech Lab – entails the engagement of students into a hypothetical technology design process. In light of the technical developments around Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the open norms in the new legal framework of the AI Act, it aims for students to build a basic understanding of technical development processes and of AI concepts in general (“AI literacy”).
Since the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the massive growth of internet technologies, privacy has become a driving concern in this domain. Many graduates of the Advanced Master’s in Law and Digital Technologies have continued their work as privacy counsels or as data protection officers (DPOs) in various technology or international companies, where one of their central duties is to draft Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIAs) where needed. Practicum module #2 trains students in drafting DPIAs. Both the Tech Lab and DPIA modules will be conducted together with expertise from Considerati – a recognised privacy consultancy in the Netherlands
Products and services of digital technologies also necessitate a very specific engagement with contracts. These include contracts for software development, contracts for support or maintenance, contracts for licensing or outsourcing, and contracts for cloud services (software-as-a-service, SaaS) or e-commerce. Practicum module #3 – ICT Contracts – will train students in commenting on or (re)drafting several clauses of these various ICT-related contracts.
Finally, AI is one of the digital technologies that has emerged to transform most markets and businesses, but its broader societal impact remains uncertain and contested. Questions of bias, discrimination, and accountability are at the forefront of current debates. Practicum module #4 introduces students to the legal and ethical assessment of AI systems through a Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment. Focusing on AI used in recruitment, the module trains students to identify risks to rights such as privacy, equality, and transparency, and to evaluate these alongside criteria for trustworthy AI under the EU AI Act. Students will gain practical skills to assess AI systems and recommend legal or governance measures to mitigate harm.
In addition to these four modules, a series of Tech Trends Workshops form part of the Practicum. Each year, approximately eight Tech Trends Workshops are given to students so that they may get acquainted with the latest trends in the industry in a variety of domains.
Course objectives
By the end of this course, students will be able to apply their knowledge of law and
digital technologies in four relevant areas of practice (design processes/AI literacy, DPIAs, ICT Contracts, & AI FRIAs).
Achievement levels
Application: At the end of this course, students can apply their knowledge of law and digital technologies in four relevant areas of practice (design processes/AI literacy, DPIAs, ICT Contracts, & AI FRIAs).
Presentation: At the end of this course, students will be able to present advice about aligning technology design with open norms from ethics and law, write impact assessment reports, draft clauses in contracts, and understand how the law intersects with novel and emerging technologies.
Mode of instruction
In each module of the practicum, a lecturer gives face-to-face seminars in interactive sessions. It also involves division of the class into working groups and the presentations of students.
Course Requirement
Master Degree
Timetable
The timetable of this course will be available for students in MyTimetable
Brightspace
More information on this course is offered in Brightspace
Attendance
Attendance is mandatory as specified in Article 5.1 of the Course and Examination Regulations of the Master of Laws Advanced Studies Programmes. This requirement encompasses all Practicum Modules as well as the Tech Trends Workshops.
Examination Method
In each of the practicum modules, students will have to perform various individual or group assignments. At the end of each module, students must take a short quiz on the online platform ANS. Students will be assessed via a pass/fail grade.
Required reading list
See Brightspace
Contact information
Programme Coordinator
Ms Patricia Garcia Fernandez
Telephone number: 0031- 71 527 4228
E-mail: lawanddigitaltechnologies@law.leidenuniv.nl
Course Coordinator
“Disclaimer:
Should there be any future extenuating circumstances which may impinge our teaching and assessment, these could necessitate modification of the course descriptions after 1 September. This will only happen in the event of strict necessity and the interests of the students will be taken into account. Should there be a need for any change during the course, this will be informed to all students on a timely basis. Modifications after 1 September 2025 may only be done with the approval and consent of the Faculty Board and Programme Director.