09945 - Legal Computer Science (R-Z)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student has knowledge of the fundamental principles governing information technology and how these apply in the legal domain for the construction of complex Information Systems. The student acquires the knowledge of the legal aspects that regulate the information technology and is able to analyze information systems and technology in the light of national, European and international level.

Furthermore, the student will also be able to critically assess the social and legal implications of these applications, and to analyse technologies in the light of the legal evolution both on the national and international levels. He/she will be also be competent to use technological notions and terms, to keep himself/herself updated and will be qualified to apply IT technologies to the legal profession.

Course contents

Erasmus students follow the same programme of regular students.

The course is divided into two parts: Legal informatics and IT law.

Legal informatics

• Law in the information society – introduction to the legal informatics: basic concept, evolution of the discipline, applications and perspectives;
• Computer system and Information system: the evolution and the impact of informatics, its application to the legal information systems;
• Computer and elaboration of information: hardware, digital era, from algorithm to software, software life cycle, and modelling formalisms (UML);
• Text and data structuring and archiving: archives, databases and information retrieval, database management system and document management (HTML, XML);
• Distributed knowledge society: telematics, information networks, the Internet, Web, Semantic Web, Web 2.0, online legal documents;
• Dematerialization society: legal rules and Internet rules, the governance of the Internet, domain names, cryptography and digital signature;
• Artificial intelligence and law: artificial intelligence, rule-based systems and legal reasoning.

IT law

• Protection of technological goods between the patent and copyright: software, digital contents, databases and domain names;
• IT contracts: hardware contracts, software user licence and development license, other IT contracts;
• New legal regimes for digital contents: open source and creative commons;
• Protection of personal data:: privacy and individual rights, information and freedom, data security;
• E-document and digital signature: cryptography, legal validity, evidentiary value.
• E-commerce: on-line contracts, advertising on the web, liability of service providers, consumer protection.

The programme is the same for all the students (attendees or not attendees), including also the ERASMUS students. The following sections provide methodological intructions for students who can not attend lessons.

Readings/Bibliography

(1) G. Sartor,  L'informatica giuridica e le tecnologie dell'informazione , Giappichelli, 2016;
(2) AA. VV. Temi di diritto dell'informatica, a cura di C. di Cocco e G. Sartor, Giappichelli, 2016 

The coursepack and material provided on the course webpage are meant to provide guidance for students investigating the course contents on their own (see the section "Teaching tools").

Teaching methods

Frontal Lectures

The course includes frontal lectures in the first semester. For the logistic details please visit the web site of the School of Law.

During the lectures the teacher uses slides, that are an outline of the main topics, including videos, practical sections. During the course the teacher may propose additional seminars about new emerging topics that are strongly connected with the discipline.

Attendance Rule

The attendance is not mandatory, but strongly reccomended for coping with the goals and the objectives of the course. Attending the lectures the student may acquire rapidaly the technical terminology, the fundationals, the basis, and so to make progresses in the autonomous study methodology.

The students that not are able to attend the course should in any case download all the material, including slides, that the teacher provides during the lectures (see the section "Teaching tools"),and in any case please contact the teachers for any problem that you may have.

Self-assessment tests

During the lessons the teacher gives to the students self-assessment tests to help in perfecting the method of preparation of the exam. The tests will be carried out individually or in small groups, with the support of texts and notes and the answers will be analyzed together with the class. Such tests do not provide for evaluation.

 

Assessment methods

Assessment is through the final exam, which guarantees the acquisition of knowledge and skills required, with the execution of a written test of 2 hours and 8 open-ended questions about the entire program, without the aid of notes or books.

This test is intended to verify the mastery of computer concepts, the knowledge of the legal aspects related to ICT and the ability to combine in critical ways the technical aspects, the legal aspects and the issues current. The learned knowledge, critical and methodological skills of the student will be evaluated, and the competence to link parts of the program in an interdisciplinary way.

The written test consists of 8 open-ended questions about the entire program. Each question allows a maximum of 4 points. The test is passed with a minimum score of 18 points. Students who have earned at least 18 points can support, if they wish, the oral examination to improve the outcome of the written test. The oral examination consists of a discussion on the themes introduced in the test. The duration of the oral examination is on average 15 minutes and is optional.

Foreign students or students who have certified writing disabilities will be assessed on the basis of an oral exam lasting at least 40 minutes.

Please use the information system of UNIBO "Almaesami" for subscribing to the written or oral exames.

Teaching tools

The section "teaching material" of this web site collects specific information on the course; questions of self-evaluation; slides projected in classroom and other supporting materials for the exam.

Teaching tools useful for the preparation of the exam are:
- the slides of lessons in the "Teaching Materials" section of this page, also available at http://campus.cib.unibo.it/
- papers and in-depth materials, mainly designed to address the most relevant topics in the current discipline (see Teaching Materials "on this page, accessible from http://campus.cib.unibo.it/)
- the "lessons register", which the teacher publishes, work in progress, at the end of each lesson (see 'Useful Content' section). It is advisable to organize the self-study by referring to the sequence of arguments as set in the lesson register.

Thesis

We offer thesis on the main emerging topics of the discipline. For a recent list of topics you can visit the section "Thesis" in this web page.

For requesting a thesis in Legal Informatics you must send an email with the following information: name, surname, degree name, year of enrolment, average of exams, number of exams missing, proposal of title and topic.

 

Office hours

See the website of Raffaella Brighi