Information Technology Law

Here at the Edinburgh Law School we pride ourselves on the quality and creativity of the teaching and course subject matter which we offer on the IT law programme. We aim to provide challenging, research led teaching, and all tutors are closely linked with SCRIPT, our research centre funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. SCRIPT has an ambitious and pioneering research programme in IT law, and is also establishing and leading the UK inter-institutional Information Technology Think Tank, which seeks to facilitate greater engagement between academic research and policy making.

The programme aims to promote advanced knowledge and understanding of information technology law, in its broadest sense, within international, European and domestic settings. The programme encompasses regulatory approaches to information technology, jurisdiction, content liability, privacy and data protection, intellectual property, standards and competition, cybercrime, e-commerce, the digital divide, legal challenges in respect of new information and communications technologies (including the internet and virtual worlds), and using these technologies in investigation and dispute adjudication.

Having studied the programme, students will emerge with an understanding of information technology law not just in its legal but also its social, ethical, cultural and commercial contexts. During study students will have access to the results of innovative cross-cutting research of the highest quality. The programme is suitable to prepare students for advanced research.

Students will benefit from the expertise of a multidisciplinary team of tutors and will have the opportunity to build extra teaching modules into their programme to further enrich their learning, including modules on medical law, information technology law, translational medicine, forensic computing, data protection, and law & technology in
developing countries.

Module Information

Students are required to complete a total of 6 modules (120 credit points) and complete a dissertation (60 credit points) over their chosen period of study.

At least 80 course work credits from

Information Technology Law
Information: Control and Power
Information Technology, Investigation, and Evidence
Forensic Computing and Electronic Evidence
International IP & IT Institutions, Law and Policy
Intellectual Property and Technology - Developing Countries

Remaining course work credits from

Intellectual Property Law 1 - Copyright and Related Rights
Intellectual Property Law 2 - Industrial Property
Managing Intellectual Property
International Intellectual Property
Medical Ethics and Law - Start and End of Life Issues
Medical Ethics and the Law - Fundamental Issues in Consent and Negligence
Biotechnology, Law & Society
International Public Health Law & Security

Dissertation

Information Technology Law

Tuition Fees

Full-Time (Distance Learning)

The tuition fee for 2010/2011 is £13,000 for all full-time students enrolled on the distance learning programmes, whether they reside in the UK, an EU country or elsewhere in the world.

Part-Time (Distance Learning)

Part-time students pay the relevant proportion of the tuition fee in each year of study, depending on the duration of the programme that they have chosen.

So students completing the programme over 20 or 24 months pay half of the tuition fee in their first year, and half in their second year of study. Students completing the programme over 32 or 36 months pay a third of the tuition fee in each of their three years of study.

Please note that the University's tuition fee is subject to an annual increase (of approximately 5%). The proportion of the fee that part-time students pay each year is calculated on the basis of the current year's tuition fee.

For example, students enrolling for the 20-month or 24-month programmes starting in 2010/2011will pay half of the full-time tuition fee that year - so £6,500. In their second year of study, they will pay half of the tuition fee set for 2011/2012 - so £6,825 if the anticipated 5% increase is implemented.