Introduction to Legal Informatics (5cr)

Objective

The aim of the course is to provide students with a basic knowledge of Information and Communication Technologies applied to the law and to make them aware of the legal and ethical issues of ICT. By the end of the course, students will have learned the basic concepts of computer science and how these concepts apply in the legal domain.

Content

The course covers various topics relating to law in the information society, such as:

- introduction to legal informatics: basic concepts, evolution of the discipline, applications and perspectives,
- computer systems and information systems: the evolution and the impact of informatics, and its application to the legal information systems,
- basics of computers and elaboration of information,
- distributed knowledge society: telematics, information networks, the Internet, Web, Semantic Web, online legal documents,
- dematerialization society: legal rules and Internet rules, the governance of the Internet, domain names, and cryptography,
- basic knowledge of machine learning and artificial intelligence and law,
- basic knowledge of algorithmic decision making and algorithmic justice,
- introduction to cybercrime and electronic evidence,
- an overview concerning the methodology of research in Legal Informatics from a multidisciplinary perspective.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

Pass, Fail, Grades 1-5

Materials

The required reading is comprised of chapters of books, journal articles and relevant EU and/or international legislative instruments, which will be all available online. More reading will be suggested through the lectures.



Reference literature:

1. Contissa, G.: Information Technology for the Law. Giappichelli Editore, Torino 2017. ISBN 9788892112339. (248 pages)
There are 5 copies of the book available in the University Library. The book is also available as e-book at https://luc.finna.fi/ulapland/Record/juolukka.449321
2. Biasotti A., Francesconi E., Palmirani M., Sartor G., Vitali F.: Legal Informatics and Management of Legislative Documents, Nazione Unite Press, Roma 2008 (Global Centre for ICT in Parliament Working Paper). (89 pages)

Further information

Timing
Lectures (22 hours) will be delivered during the Autumn and Spring semesters.

The essay can be delivered for assessment anytime during the Autumn and Spring semesters. Exams will take place on specified general examination days of the Faculty of Law.


Teachers
Dino Girardi (LL.M, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Lapland & University of Bologna, dino.girardi@ulapland.fi)

Juhana Riekkinen (LL.D. trained on the bench, University Lecturer in Legal Informatics)


Other
This course is part of the Law and Tech package.

Execution methods

Alternative 1: Lecture course

In addition to attending the lectures (22 h), the student will be required to complete two tasks.

1) Task 1: Essay (4 credits): The student is required to write an essay. The topic of the essay and the appropriate literature should be discussed with the teacher during the lectures period. The essay is composed by: the title, an abstract, the table of contents and the essay. The complete list of the requirements for the essay will be delivered during the lectures.

2) Task 2: Answer to one question (1 credit): The student should answer to one open question. The questions are based on chapter 1 (Law and the Information Society), 2 (Computers) and 7 (Internet) of the book: G. Contissa, Information Technology for the Law, Giappichelli 2017). The set of questions will be delivered during the lectures, and the student is required to choose only one of them. The answer (from 1 up to 2 pages) should be handwritten in the exam sheet given by the teacher.

Alternative 2: Completing the course without attending the lectures

Alternatively, the course can be completed either by taking a written examination or by writing an essay without attending the lectures.

If a student wishes to complete the course by taking a written examination without attending the lectures, the written examination consists of set of 4 questions based on the entire book: G. Contissa, Information Technology for the Law, Giappichelli 2017.

If a student wishes to complete the course with an essay without attending the lectures, they are required to write an essay of approximately 25 pages (from 9000 up to 10.000 words). The topic of the essay and the appropriate literature should be discussed with the teacher also via email. The complete list of the requirements for the essay will be sent via email to the student.

Accomplishment methods

Lecture course or written examination/essay.