Law (Cyber Law) LLM
Part-time Distance Learning | September Start

This module offers a critical introduction to legal research methods. It is designed to ensure that you will be able to confidently embark on legal research on your Masters programme whatever your academic background or jurisdiction. Your lectures are designed to refresh and develop your understanding of legal research techniques, referencing and evaluating sources. In your workshops you will be provided with opportunities to undertake and obtain feedback upon a series of legal research and writing tasks, thus enabling you to develop critical understanding of what it meant by effective legal research, and how you yourself can become an effective legal researcher.

This module provides a critical introduction to the global nature of three distinct but interwoven areas of the space, cyber and telecommunications industries. The dominant consideration in all three of these environments are economic although they all have significant military dimensions. The three areas are all, in some way, contingent or connected to each other. They are also both dependent on and drivers of new technological and engineering advances. This module will provide an understanding of the fundamental ways in which they are regulated, coupled with an appreciation of the key themes that emerge in their on-going development.

The module will cover the following areas and start by considering the shared themes in the Cyber, Space and Telecoms global industry. There will be a critical introduction to the military applications of cyber, space and telecoms and analysis on the threats to space and telecoms from asymmetric cyber-attacks. There will be an evaluation of the role of space and telecoms in global navigation and transport industry and specific consideration of the changing face of broadcasting in the new space, cyber and telecoms era. As it is the main international institution, the role of the ITU will be evaluated in respect of (i) Regulation of Telecoms and (ii) Regulating Space and the Internet, together with the role of national regulators such as Ofcom. The module will then go on and consider the way in which technology shapes the law by considering new developments in cyber, space and telecommunications technology.

In this module you will develop a critical understanding of the law and governance issues relating to cyberspace. You will acquire the knowledge and understanding around key legal issues in cyberspace. This includes consideration of cybersecurity, cybercrime, and e-commerce, together with analysing concerns over privacy and the role of commercial and military actors on both a national and international level. You will critically evaluate the governance of cyberspace at the international, regional, and national levels where appropriate and will look at the security, safety, and sustainability concerns around the use of cyberspace. You will gain a critical awareness of how law and governance operate in the global cyber economy. You will also examine the role of national legislation in protecting children and dealing with online harms. There will be an examination of softer, non-binding agreements in respect of cyber governance.

In this module you will develop a critical understanding of the laws relating to data management. Whilst the focus will be on data protection in the UK and Europe, you will be encouraged to bring in examples from other jurisdictions providing an international perspective on data management. You will examine the development of data protection law in England and Europe, the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 (the Act), the EU Directive on Data Protection (the Directive), the Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. The module will take a critical look at the legal framework that governs data protection and privacy both regionally and internationally. This module covers the following topics: the history and development of data protection law; key definitions within the legislation and how they have been interpreted and applied; the data protection principles which govern legal regulation and practice; the rights which are created by the Act and Regulation, who they are granted to and how they might be enforced; the obligations which are imposed on organisations over how they process personal data; how the exemptions in the legislation apply to domestic law; how notification arrangements work and how the data protection regime is enforced, in particular looking at the powers of the Information Commissioner.