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European private law and modern technologies

Take part in this private law course dealing with specific topics in the technological and digital sector!

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CIVIS focus area
Digital and Technological transformation
Open to
  • Bachelor's
  • Master's
Field of studies
  • Law
Type
  • Blended Intensive Programmes (BIP)
Course dates
1 December 2022 - 10 March 2023

The aim of this project is to deepen certain topics of private law that apply to modern technologies. In particular, it is intended to create a private law course dealing with specific topics in the technological and digital sector between the four participating universities (La Sapienza University of Rome, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Université Libre de Bruxelles, University of Salzburg 'Paris Lodron'). In particular, issues of contract law relating to contracts concluded in a totally digital manner via the Internet and contracts concluded between a physical person and an artificial intelligence (smart contracts) will be addressed.

Main topics addressed

  1. Issues of contract law relating to contracts concluded in a totally digital manner via the Internet
  2. Contracts concluded between a physical person and artificial intelligence (smart contracts) will be addressed
  3. Civil liability of the parties involved in a digital contract on the internet and the particular issue of the protection of their sensitive data in the context of internet platforms.
  4. The general aspect of consumer protection in digitally concluded contracts will also be taken into consideration

Learning outcomes

The course will focus on the applications of new technologies in the context of relationships between private individuals, and will allow for the analysis, also on the basis of practical cases, of regulatory models of smart contracts and remedial techniques provided for the consumer in the European context; but also the analysis of issues related to the protection of personal data collected in the digital market. The survey will allow for an in-depth study of legal issues, also from a comparative perspective between national legal systems.

The general expectation at the end of the course will be to have trained future jurists capable of dealing with private law and contractual situations related to the new technologies.

Dates: 1 December 2022 - 10 March 2023 Language: English (B2)
Format: Blended ECTS: 5
Location: Roma, Italy Total workload: 140

Recognition of ECTS depends on your home university. 

The contact points for this course are: 

Virtual part

The virtual part will be running from 1 December 2022 to 24 February 2023.

As far as the online lessons are concerned, there will be a first introductory part comprising five lessons of two hours each online on the basics of European private law with a special focus on issues related to digital technologies. In particular, an attempt will be made to explain the interactions between national and European private law regulations on the subject of digital contracts, contracts concluded with digital intelligence, smart contracts, and liability and data protection issues. The general aspect of consumer protection in digitally concluded contracts will also be taken into consideration. In order to enable the learning of these basics, on the one hand lectures will be given and on the other hand students will be provided with written material composed expressly for this course, so that they can then study all the subjects presented in the lectures independently. Classes are mainly held in English, but some terms and some national legal concepts will also be explained in French, Italian and German.

There will be a first introductory part comprising five lessons of two hours each online on the basics of European private law with a special focus on issues related to digital technologies. In particular, an attempt will be made to explain the interactions between national and European private law regulations on the subject of digital contracts, contracts concluded with digital intelligence, smart contracts, and liability and data protection issues. The general aspect of consumer protection in digitally concluded contracts will also be taken into consideration. In order to enable the learning of these basics, on the one hand lectures will be given and on the other hand students will be provided with written material composed expressly for this course, so that they can then study all the subjects presented in the lectures independently.he first online part will be held by Prof. Erik Van den Haute from the University of Brussels together with Prof. Georges Gyannopoulos from the University of Athens. The online activity will consist of 5 lectures of 2 hours each to introduce students to the basics of private law applied to modern technologies.

Physical mobility

The physical mobility part will be running from 6 to 10 March 2023.

During the physical part, on the other hand, students will listen to lectures by lecturers in the Faculty of Political Science at La Sapienza University in Rome. Here, the lectures will be classical and the lecturers will explain all the practical problems of the subject to the students (digital contracts, contracts concluded with digital intelligences, smart contracts and the problems of liability and personal data protection, consumer protection in digitally concluded contracts) through examples, exercises and workshops. The in-presence part will also provide students with information on the possibility of internships and apprenticeships at ministerial institutions, law firms and various courts. In particular, this last possibility will be an added value for the student, who will thus have the possibility, after finishing the course, to do an international internship in this field that will be important for his or her future professional career.The physical part will be held at the University of Rome La Sapienza by Prof. Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Prof. Daniele Mattiangeli (Salzburg) and Prof. Athina Dimoupolou (Athens). The physical part will also rely on Prof. Di Lorenzo's course on private law in the digital age.The in-presence phase will last 5 days, with an intensive course held in Rome.

Requirements

This course is open to Bachelor's and Master's students at CIVIS member universities. Applicants should be enrolled in a law degree and have basic skills in European private law.

Application process

Interested students should fill in the online application form and attach the following documents:

  • Short CV
  • Motivation letter, including each student's research programme

The application deadline is 30 September 2022.

Apply for this course

Assessment

The method of evaluating the students' private work and the number of research hours they performed for the programme will be done by means of a protocol that the students will fill in, where the research hours they performed will be noted.

As far as the overall evaluation method of the course is concerned, both the active participation of the students in the online and in-presence part of the course and their performance in the various workshops that will be organised during the physical part of the course at La Sapienza University in Rome will be evaluated. There will be at least two workshops for evaluation.

Blended Intensive Programme

This CIVIS course is a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP): a new format of Erasmus+ mobility which combines online teaching with a short trip to another campus to learn alongside students and professors across Europe. Click here to learn more about CIVIS BIPs.

GDPR Consent

The CIVIS alliance and its member universities will treat the information you provide with respect. Please refer to our privacy policy for more information on our privacy practices. By applying to this course you agree that we may process your information in accordance with these terms.

  • Professor Erik Van den Haute, Faculty of Law, University libre de Bruxelles ( Professor for European private and comparative and also Professor for Belgian civil law)
  • Professor Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Faculty of Political Science, University La Sapienza of Rome (Professor of civil and consumer law)
  • Professor Johannes Michael Rainer, Faculty of Law, University of Salzburg (Professor for Roman law, Austrian civil law and European and comparative private law)
  • Associated Professor Daniele Mattiangeli, Faculty of Law, University of Salzburg (Professor of Roman Law, History of Law and Italian Private Law)
  • Assistant Professor Athina Dimopoulou, Department of History and Theory of Law, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Professor for Theory of Law and legal history)
  • Professeur Georges Gyannopoulos, National an Kapodistrian University of Athens (Professor for Computer and internet Law)