MCF8211 Computers and The Law

This course introduces students to impact of information technology on he law, the practice of law and the administration of justice. It also examines the various ways and mechanisms through which the law has responded to the new technological environment and the challenges that have come with it. 

Course Objectives

Computers and the law have grown to become perhaps one of the most important courses in the curriculum, as it provides the legal basics and foundation upon which the computer is regulated by law in the contemporary world. The course provides both the theoretical and practical aspects of the computer from the perspective of the law. The main issues examined in the course are the instruments of computer use and misuse (Computer Misuse Act, 2011), the Internet and the law, and governance and their relationship with intellectual property law. Students are thus urged to keep abreast with recent and past developments in the area of computers and the law and life in the digital era in Uganda, and the world at large.   

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Explain the basic elements of computer and internet use in relation to the law, appreciate its over-arching character in relation to the Internet; 
• Discuss the main principles of computer and its relationship with human rights ( right to privacy and database protection) 
• Apply the key principles of computer and the law to the practice of law and the administration of justice.