Schedule, syllabus and examination date

Course content

This course is an introduction to programming for lawyers. It gives a basic understanding of programming as creative problem-solving. The students will learn fundamental programming skills and uses of programming in a legal context. The course introduces the Python programming language and how to work programmatically with legal texts such as court decisions. The course does not require any previous knowledge of programming or math.

Some programming courses are intended for natural science and technology audiences and require some math knowledge. This course is instead focused on text and uses little math, mainly basic arithmetic such as addition and multiplication.

The course will focus on real life tasks relevant to practice in the legal field. For example, the students will be working with text and data from the European Court of Human Rights OpenData Project.


For students enrolled in Rettsvitenskap (jus) (master – 5 år): Have you considered a specialization as part of your degree? The course is part of the profile Jus og teknologi.

Learning outcome

This course gives the student fundamental programming competence and understanding of how to use programming in a legal context. The course shall give an understanding of how to make and use algorithms to extract information from legal texts.

Full learning outcomes

Admission

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for by registering a study plan in StudentWeb.

You may register for this course if you have admission to one of the following study programmes at UIO;  Rettsvitenskap,  Information and Communication Technology Law (ICTL) and Forvaltningsinformatikk . All applicants must fill the formal prerequisites.

There are limited places in this course, maximum 35 students. A letter of motivation is requested to apply for this course. 

Prerequisites

Formal prerequisite knowledge

Students must fill one of these requirements: 

  • Passed 1st - 3rd year of the 5-years degree Master of Laws (Master i rettsvitenskap at UiO) (or exams that qualify for exemption for these) or
  • Hold a 5-years Master’s degree in Laws (Master i rettsvitenskap at UiO) or equivalent.

Recommended previous knowledge

Minimum 1 year of law studies

Teaching

Language of teaching for this course is English. Communication during lectures/seminars will be in English and Norwegian, and students may use learning resources in both Norwegian and English.

Programming is a practical skill that takes practice to develop. Therefore, this course will consist of group sessions as well as  lectures. In the group sessions you can ask questions, get help with your assignments or just work on your assignments.

Attendance is voluntary for both the lectures and the group sessions.

Examination

This course has Portfolio Assessment (40%) and a 3 hour written school exam (60%).  The portfolio will consist of 3-5 practical programming assignments.  Some of the assignments may also require a short written report.

Use of sources and rules for citing.

Be sure that you are familiar with the use of sources and the rules for citing/quoting from others work .
UiO uses a plagiarism checking tool as one of several instruments for detecting suspicion of cheating and attempted cheating.

Previous exam papers and marking criteria 

Examination support material

No examination support material is allowed.

Language of examination

The examination texts are given in English but you may submit your response in Norwegian or English.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.

Marking Criteria

This guide is used by examiners for grading elective courses at the Faculty of law.

 

Explanations and appeals

Resit an examination

Withdrawal from an examination

It is possible to take this exam up to 3 times. If you withdraw from the exam after the deadline or during the exam, this will be counted as an examination attempt.

There are special rules for resitting a passed examination in the master's programme in Law.

Special examination arrangements

Application form, deadline and requirements for special examination arrangements.

Evaluation

The course is subject to continuous evaluation. At regular intervals we also ask students to participate in a more comprehensive evaluation.

This subject is taught at Master 's level only. 

Please see the chapter above, regarding overlap. For instances of overlap, credits will be deducted on the subject at Bachelors's Level.

Students enrolled in the Masterprogrammet i rettsvitenskap must pass one English subject as part of their degree, this course will not meet these obligations.

 

Facts about this course

Credits
10
Level
Master
Teaching
Every autumn
Examination
Every autumn
Teaching language
English