Research projects at eLaw@Leiden (research information in English)

eLaw@Leiden performs research in the interdisciplinary area of information technology and law. The many projects (short term, policy research and Ph.D. thesis research) can be classified in the following clusters: eCommerce, Telecommunications Law, Digital Surveillance, Intellectual Property and Information Technology in the Legal Domain.

Cluster eCommerce

The rise of electronic networks has led to a huge number of electronic commercial transactions. The electronic exchange of orders between companies, and the new, relatively uncertain situation in which on-line consumers find themselves in, are relevant research themes. Research projects currently performed are: Network e-commerce:  Establishment of an international network of academics engaged in research into legal issues related to e-commerce; Digital securities: status of digital securities in Dutch law of property; Public limited companies as information chains: decision processes in limited companies/proxy voting.

Cluster Telecommunications Law

Telecommunications law copes with, among other things, the question how the market for telecommunication facilities can be regulated, and what demands can be imposed on infrastructure and services. Research projects currently performed are: Sharing capital assets: legal questions arising from the sharing of (infrastructural) capital assets; Transfer of knowledge regarding electronic communications: comparative law research into the way in which European electronic communication directives are implemented in The Netherlands and in Poland.

Cluster Digital Surveillance

New technologies offer opportunities in several phases of criminal investigations. Research projects currently performed are: Surveillance in an ICT environment: investigation of the legal consequences of data mining techniques; ANITA (administrative normative information transaction agents):  this project is a multi-disciplinary research project executed in multiple research groups. The Leiden part of the project comprises the acquisition of relevant legal knowledge and policies in the area of police data exchange, as an input for the building of legal knowledge-based systems and agent-based systems.

Cluster Intellectual Property

The ease with which digital information can be copied and distributed yields new challenges in the protection of copyrights, and also induces new forms of protection, such as database law. Relevant projects include: Protection of databases: investigation into the way in which the European database directive has been implemented in Dutch, German and French law, and how this protection has been interpreted in legal practice; Remodelling Napster: the project comprises an interdisciplinary analysis of legal and economic principles of intellectual property rights (IPR) in the information society.

Cluster Information Technology in the Legal Domain

New technologies induce changes in the way law is drafted and maintained. The support of activities in the legal domain by using information and communication technologies is subject of this research cluster. Relevant programs and projects are: Accessibility of legal information: a program focusing on introducing new ways of making legal information more accessible to professionals and laymen; Virtualization of dispute resolution: a project in which an inventory has been made of changes in dispute resolution as a consequence of the introduction of information and communication technologies; KODOS: a project focusing on the use of simulation games in legal education.

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Laatst Gewijzigd: 09-02-2006