Module Identifier | LA32610 | ||
Module Title | INFORMATION LAW | ||
Academic Year | 2002/2003 | ||
Co-ordinator | Dr Diane Rowland | ||
Semester | Semester 2 | ||
Other staff | Miss Allison Coleman | ||
Pre-Requisite | LA10110 or LA30110 or LA15710 | ||
Course delivery | Lecture | 20 Hours Two one hour lectures per week | |
Seminars / Tutorials | 4 Hours Seminar. Four one hour seminars during the semester | ||
Assessment | Semester Exam | 2 Hours | 100% |
Supplementary Assessment | By Examination. | ||
Professional Exemptions | Not Required for Professional Purposes |
- understand the rationale behind official secrets legislation and freedom of information legislation and the tension between them,
- understand the scope and extent of the legal controls on governmental information in the UK and the EU,
- appreciate the relationship between privacy and data protection and the extent to which data protection legislation is protective of the privacy of data subjects,
- be able to apply the substantive provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 to practical situations,
- be able to appreciate the policy issues underlying any decision to protect confidential information in a commercial environment,
- be able to apply the common law and equitable obligations of confidence to a range of practical situations,
- appreciate the difficulties in classifying information as confidential and protectable in employment cases,
- be able to evaluate the roles of the civil and criminal law in protecting trade secrets,
- understand the legal difficulties arising out of the increasing use of global computer networks for the dissemination of information of all types.
Information is a very powerful commodity for those who hold it and those who suffer as a consequence of the misuse of information will look for redress. Whether or not they are successful may depend on the type of information in question. The aim of the course is to study information in its many manifestations be they private, governmental or commercial and to evaluate the legal controls on its access, use and disclosure. These will be studied in the context of the complex interaction of public policies with the intention of raising awareness and stimulating interest in legal response to technological change. The advent of computers has had a profound effect on the way information is used and handled and part of the course will concentrate on some of the legal issues this has raised. However, no familiarity with computers or computer skills are necessary and any technical terms will be explained!
1.1 What is information law?
2. Government and Information
2.1 Approaches to the regulation of government information
2.2. Arguments for and against freedom of information
2.3 Aspects of freedom of information legislation in other jurisdictions
2.4 Freedom of information in the European Union
2.5 Government and information in the UK
? Official Secrets legislation
? Freedom of information
3. Personal information and Data Protection
3.1 Background to the legislation
3.2 Council of Europe Convention
3.3 Data Protection Act 1984
3.4 Data protection and privacy
3.5 The EC directive on data protection and the Data Protection Act 1998
4. Commercial Confidentiality
4.1 The nature of breach of confidence
4.2 Employees and breach of confidence
4.3 The division of breach of confidence: criminalisation and the Law Commission'r proposals
5. The Information Highway - Legal Issues
5.1 The nature of the problem
5.2 Regulatory issues and the Internet
5.3 Approaches to the problems in different jurisdiction
5.4 Categories of computer misuse and the Computer Misuse Act 1990