Description & Objectives
The purpose of this course is to explore the adequacy of international law in relation to activities with an international footprint, which are either situations that emerged from the proliferation of new technologies (most of which were born and developed in the context of the Information Age) or which pre-existed and were radically transformed in the New Age. International law and new technologies are symbiotic: technological innovations influence and facilitate the application of international norms, while, on the contrary, the law is called upon to regulate technological challenges, which, to a large extent, reveal its current limits. The course focuses, for obvious reasons, on this second dimension of the international law-new technologies nexus.
Contents
The course will selectively explore the application of international law in relation to the following areas:
- UN Secretary-General’s Strategy on New Technologies
- Cross-border (free) flow of information vs. protection of personal data
- Responsibility of States in relation to internationally wrongful acts committed with little or no human intervention: in particular the case of automated/autonomous weapons systems
- Use of remotely piloted aircraft for military purposes (drones)
- International direct television broadcasting
- Use of the Internet as a specific form of the right of expression
- Cyberspace: Military use and commission of crimes
- Harmful interference in satellite systems
- Use of anti-satellite weapons and protection of the environment
- Space resource utilization and exploitation
- Biomedicine and Human Rights; Biotechnology; Bioterrorism
Academic Requirements
Participants are expected to have an in-depth knowledge of Public International Law.
Teaching method
Interactive, discussion-based lectures, with student participation. Course files will be distributed prior to classes.
Lecturers
The course is taught by Assistant Professor George D. Kyriakopoulos.
Assessment and testing
Final written exam, essay questions - 2 hours (80%)
Alternatively: Individual dissertation - 7.000-9.000 words (80%)