• Rochel Johan

• Rochel Johan

This semester Master course in Law critically interrogates the links between AI systems, the ethical and philosophical issues underlying their design and use, and the impact of these systems on the law and on legal tasks. Overall, the course aims to improve students' ability to understand the ethical issues involved in the design and use of AI systems. Unlike a general course in AI ethics, the context of investigation is the legal domain and its specific features. The question that drives this course could be summed up as follows: what could AI change in and for the law and its functions for human interactions? 

This course is an opportunity to delve deeper into certain classic themes in applied ethics and the philosophy of law, in particular the relationship between law and morality, theories of justice and concepts such as autonomy, agency and responsibility. The course deals only incidentally with the regulation of AI by the law (e.g. the European AI Act). This topic is already covered by other colleagues in their courses on data protection or technology regulation. 

The first part is meant to critically address the most important concepts for the class. This includes the concept of “artificial intelligence”, but also a working definition of “ethics” and “law”. The concept of AI will be shown to have an history (taking the perspective of the history of sciences) and several normative presuppositions (drawing upon critical AI ethics). 

The second part offers students an overview of the ethical questions raised by the conception, the design and the use of AI systems. This part is organized along three sub-parts: the ethics of AI systems (conception and design), social justice (impact of AI systems on the world) and the ethics of framings and narratives (AI systems as embedded into a cultural matrix). The main objective is to gain clear insights on the numerous normative choices embedded into the design of any AI system – the ethical questions raised by AI systems are not limited to the use of these systems, quite on the contrary. The second part will draw on examples and use-cases from the legal domain.

The third part focuses on the impact of AI systems on core functions inherent in legal tasks. We will map, structure and formalize the tasks done by lawyers, clustering them along the types of cognitive and practical functions they require, before investigating the potential impact of AI systems on these tasks. Examples of these tasks include interpretation and heuristic work on texts, judgement, risk-assessment or negotiation. 

The fourth part takes a broader look on the impact of AI systems and, more broadly, digital technologies on the regulation of human activities. One of the core functions of the law is to regulate and coordinate human activities. Critical authors argue that this function is put under pressure by algorithmic governance and design choices drastically restraining human freedom (and hence the need for regulation in the first place).

In the academic year 2025/26, this course will not be streamed.

At the end of the course, students will be able to: 

• Provide an overview of the ethical challenges related to the design and use of AI systems
• Analyse the different conceptions of agency, autonomy and responsibility
• Identify and clarify the impact of AI systems on key operations in legal tasks
• Understand the potential competition between digital technologies and the regulative ambition of the law
• Work on relevant use-cases for the domain of the law

Participation in the course requires preparatory reading and the study of case law, which are discussed in class. The teaching method is participatory, with plenty of opportunity for class discussion. 

The exam is a 2-hour written exam in open book format. It includes reflective questions. Its aim is to test and evaluate students' ability to develop their own ethical reflections based on the concepts covered during the course. The exam is prepared in class (mock exam).

The exam is a 2-hour written exam in open book format. It includes reflective questions. Its aim is to test and evaluate students' ability to develop their own ethical reflections based on the concepts covered during the course. The exam is prepared in class (mock exam).

The exam is a 2-hour written exam in open book format. It includes reflective questions. Its aim is to test and evaluate students' ability to develop their own ethical reflections based on the concepts covered during the course. The exam is prepared in class (mock exam).