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, 2020

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 and online lectures following one of the modality described in this Web page:https://dsg.unibo.it/en/teaching/projects-and-teaching-methodologies/teaching-modes-at-dsg-on-i-semester-a-y-2020-2021.

 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.

The exam consists of two tests, both compulsory:

(1) Written test: it consists of a multiple-choice quiz comprising 14 questions, each of which will be marked out of two. The test will take place on the EOL - Online Exams platform with the support of the Zoom application for surveillance. The duration of the test is 30 minutes. Results will be published within 1-2 days.

(2) Oral test: students who have obtained a mark of at least 14/30 in the written test may take the oral test. The test consists of one or two questions on the program carried out, and will be evaluated from zero to 4 points. The oral test may be taken in any of the appeals in which the written test was taken. The oral test may be held either in attendance or on Teams, as required.

The evaluation of the oral test, added to the result of the written test, contributes to reach the final evaluation.

For technical indications on how to take the online exams see the website: https://www.unibo.it/it/servizi-e-opportunita/servizi-online/servizi-online-per-studenti-1/lezioni-ed-esami-online

The use of books or notes is not allowed and the sheets of paper are provided by the teacher.

 

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