Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

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Co Requisite Comment

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Aims

The aim of this course is to provide students with a cutting edge understanding of the legal, social and economic challenges created by increasingly digital economies. Focusing on the establishment, harmonisation and maturing of ‘Digital Markets’, this module touches upon a range of different areas of contemporary interest in an area of rapid technological and legal adaptation. Rather than being overly formalistic in its approach to the regulation of online transactions, it instead considers the formation of digital markets and the role of law in facilitating, structuring or correcting them. While it provides general categories to be considered each year, such as the formation of online contracts, the use of digital currencies and issues of competition law, the module is designed to be highly adaptive, focusing on the problems or developments occurring within a particular year. For this reason, this module draws from a wide range of subject experts in the Law School, as well as being supplemented by guest lecturers talking about areas within their research or practice expertise. The key objectives of this module are as follows: -

1.       To introduce students to the concept of ‘digital’ markets, and the increasing interconnectedness, interdependence and variances between different national and regional regimes;
2.       To provide students with a dedicated case study in the form of the EU’s advanced policies and projects on the development of a Digital Single Market for good and remotely provided services, and the underlying ideas informing that system;
3.       To consider specific examples of issues arising in the formation and execution of digital contracts;
4.       To explore the development of digital currencies and different approaches to regulation;
5.       To consider issues of competition arising in digital markets;
6.       To discuss the ways in which illicit digital markets develop;
7.       To assess developing areas of interest, such as ‘gigification’ in the context of digital services, and cyber-security concerns around remote working post-Covid.

Outline Of Syllabus

The proposed outline of the syllabus is as follows, with the proviso that case studies will change each year dependent upon current issues, controversies and developments.

1.       An introduction to digital markets, neoliberalism, ordoliberalism and varieties of capitalism
2.       The EU’s Digital Single Market – a case study in market construction through law?
3.       Digital Contracts I
4.       Digital Contracts II
5.       The law and economics of digital currencies
6.       Digital competition I
7.       Digital competition II
8.       Illicit digital markets – from counterfeiting to drugs
9.       Exploitative digital markets – the gig economy and casualised work
10.       Remote working in digital markets – crime and security

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

At the end of the module students should be able to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding
of:

•       Basic political economy and the construction of markets as applied to digital markets;
•       The EU’s Digital Single Market Strategy;
•       Laws concerning digital contracts, and the contemporary issues in their use;
•       The governance and regulation of digital currencies;
•       Key principles in competition law, and their application to current developments in digital markets;
•       The use of the internet to construct and facilitate illicit digital markets;
•       The implications of the increased use of digital markets for the purposes of remote working and in the gig-economy, and the vulnerabilities their use creates.

Intended Skill Outcomes

At the end of the module students should be able to demonstrate:

Cognitive skills – having completed the module, students will be able to demonstrate these subject
specific skills:

•       The ability to apply understanding of law and regulation to contemporary market development issues;
•       The ability to critically reflect upon the benefits and drawbacks of digital market construction;
•       The ability to engage with the a range of different law and policy problems arising through the development and functioning of digital markets;

Key transferable skills – having completed the module, students will be able to:

•       Engage in the interpretation of policy documents such as European Commission Communications, and to think of law not only in terms of doctrine, but in terms of real-world applications and effects;
•       Deal effectively with complicated real-world scenarios relating to the development of new forms of digital market expression that may operate in legal lacunae or present new questions regarding the role of regulation;
•       Demonstrate critical reasoning skills
•       Demonstrate skills in collecting, handling, evaluating and applying information
•       Demonstrate oral and written presentation skills, through active participation in class and preparation of written tasks
•       Demonstrate the ability to carry out independent research and identify relevant primary and secondary legal materials, as well as relevant non-legal sources

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The teaching methods have been adapted for delivery in the post-COVID environment and are based on the presumption that in person lectures, seminars and in-person drop-in sessions will be possible but that this shall need to be supplemented by making alternative arrangements under ‘FLEX’ in case of the possibility of more limited possibilities for on Campus teaching).

Small group teaching has been determined to be the most effective mode of content delivery for PGT students, allowing for a blend of instructor-led discussion and student-led group work, which is preferable to relying predominantly on lectures for student contact. The four one-hour long online activities will provide students with opportunities to test their knowledge and understanding of course content through four activities – the first, developing their understanding of ‘varieties of capitalism’ and how they relate to digital markets, the second on reading non-legal sources such as policy papers and reports, the third on interpreting an academic article, and the fourth (which leads into the final assessment), which involves drafting a short research proposal that then is used as part of the final summative assessment.

The scheduled online Q&As allow for students to ‘drop in’ and ask questions concerning course content, and the MCQ activities provide students with instantaneous formative feedback on their understanding of substantive factual course content.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The assignment, taking the form of a traditional essay, aims to advance critical and analytical skills of the PGT students, their ability to work with the secondary sources, understanding and engagement with the relevant literature, constituting the intellectual foundations of Competition Law & the Digital Economy. This area is subject to significant changes and revision. Thematically, students will be offered several topics of choice asking to engage in the discussion on some of the theoretical or applied aspects of legal rules underpinning the functioning of competition in digital markets

General Notes

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