6 ECTS credits
150 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4023539EER for all students in the 1st semester at a (E) Master - advanced level.

Semester
1st semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Possible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Taught in
English
Faculty
Faculty of Law and Criminology
Department
Metajuridica
Educational team
Paul Quinn (course titular)
Activities and contact hours
24 contact hours Lecture
126 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

This course aims to create an in depth knowledge concerning the ethical and legal issues surrounding the use of genetic data. This is a dynamic area that is evolving with the rapidly growing use of genomic data in many domains in society. This course can be differentiated with ‘The Augmented Human’ because that course only explores one aspect of genetic science – gene editing. This course is focused on the use of genetic data in general – something of a far wider reach, and which is of high importance in a range of domains e.g. scientific research, criminal investigation, pharmaceutical research, insurance, employment, various consumer services and the participation of the citizen in science.

The course will be primarily legal in nature but given the contents will have a strong multidisciplinary character also. It will introduce the context of genomics and further develop and explore legal frameworks that may have been explored in other courses and apply them to the context that is the use of genetic data. This course will also be compatible with courses in other domains, including notably the health law courses that form part of the faculty’s private law offer. This course will explore developments in genomics in the context of existing legal frameworks in Belgium and Europe. It will build upon basic knowledge and principles outlined in previous modules and aim to endow students with deeper knowledge of how the key legal frameworks in question apply to genomics and what the ramifications are for both society and individual. Though a legal course, it will have an inter-disciplinary character, with focus on scientific advances, medical and commercial use of genomics and also the ethical and philosophical issues surrounding them. The content will also be dynamic in nature, evolving at pace so as to keep up with rapid advances in this area.

Course Outline

A number of group study sessions are included in this course. In these sessions students will be split into smaller groups and given a collective exercise that requires the analysis of the application of the law to a practical example of the use of genetic data which will be their written assignment. In week 5 the students will be given more information on their written assignment, in week 10 the students will present the first phase of their practical case, providing them with the opportunity to get some feedback from their fellow students and ask further questions and guidance. The paper has to be handed in at the oral exam and will be the basis of the oral exam.

Course material
Digital course material (Required) : Canvas
Additional info

All lectures will be recorded and available for later access in order to aid students with revision purposes. Each will be 3 hours long and will tackle specific areas as outlined below.

Learning Outcomes

General competences

  • Students will learn about how genetic information is used and generated. An appreciation of the phenomenon of genomics is necessary in order to understand why it raises so many serious ethical and legal questions.
  • Students will deal with legal issues that will reinforce what they have learned from other law modules in their studies. This includes in areas such as privacy/data protection, human rights and anti-discrimination law. Whilst the focus of the course will be upon European law, illustrative examples using national law will be used.
  • In this course students will receive reinforced level of instruction on areas of law that are critical to the developing knowledge economy. The use of genomic data is central to innovation in many areas including scientific research, public health and a number of commercial areas. The knowledge acquired in this course will therefore be useful to students either in future academic pursuits or in legal practice.
  • Students will also learn how to work in a focused and interdisciplinary manner. This will differ from other courses which offer a more doctrinal approach. Rather it will focus on the emergence of a new technological paradigm and require the students to consider various legal approaches that will apply to it. This will provide the students with skills in terms of an applied law approach, something that will be useful after study in practice or further research.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Oral Exam with a relative weight of 100 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

...

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Laws: Civil and Procedural Law (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Laws: Criminology (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Laws: Economic Law (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Laws: Tax Law (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Laws: International and European Law (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Laws: Public Law (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Laws: Social Law (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Laws: Criminal Law (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Laws: Law and Technology (only offered in Dutch)