LL449E Half Unit
Artificial Intelligence and the Law
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Course Convenor
Prof Andrew Murray
Availability
This course is available on the Executive Master of Laws (ELLM). This course is not available as an outside option to students on other programmes.
Available to Executive LLM students only. This course will be offered on the Executive LLM during the four year degree period. The Law School will not offer all Executive LLM courses every year, although some of the more popular courses may be offered in each year, or more than once each year. Please note that whilst it is the Law School's intention to offer all Executive LLM courses, its ability to do so will depend on the availability of the staff member in question. For more information please refer to the Law School website.
Course content
This course aims to provide students with an advanced understanding of the legal, regulatory, and ethical challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI) within the UK legal framework. It will critically examine how existing legal principles apply to AI technologies and assess the need for legal reforms. The course also seeks to develop students’ ability to engage in informed legal analysis and policymaking in response to AI-driven transformations in key sectors.
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Critically evaluate the current legal and regulatory landscape governing AI in the UK, including relevant domestic, European, and international influences.
- Analyze how AI interacts with key areas of law, such as data protection, intellectual property, liability, contract, human rights, and criminal law.
- Assess the ethical and societal implications of AI technologies, including issues of bias, transparency, accountability, and fairness.
- Compare and contrast the UK’s AI legal and policy frameworks with broader EU and global approaches, identifying key points of divergence and convergence.
- Examine case law, legislative proposals, and policy documents related to AI governance, interpreting their impact on legal practice and enforcement.
- Apply legal reasoning to hypothetical and real-world AI-related disputes, offering well-founded arguments on liability, regulatory compliance, and enforcement.
- Engage in policy analysis to formulate recommendations for the responsible governance of AI within the UK legal system.
- Develop research and advocacy skills in AI law, demonstrating the ability to present coherent, well-reasoned legal arguments in written and oral formats.
Teaching
24-26 hours of contact time.
Formative assessment
All students are encouraged to produce one 2,000 word formative essay during the course.
Indicative reading
Murray, Information Technology Law: The Law and Society (OUP, 5th ed, 2023)
Reed & Murray, Rethinking the Jurisprudence of Cyberspace (Edward Elgar, 2018)
Murray, The Regulation of Cyberspace (Routledge, 2007)
Lessig, Code Ver, 2.0 (Basic Books, 2006)
Woodrow Barfield & Ugo Pagallo: Advanced Introduction to Law and Artificial Intelligence (Elgar, 2020)
Simon Chesterman: We, the Robots?: Regulating Artificial Intelligence and the Limits of the Law (CUP, 2021)
Karen Yeung & Martin Lodge: Algorithmic Regulation (OUP, 2019)
Assessment
Assessment Pathway 1
Essay (100%, 8000 words)
Assessment Pathway 2
Legal problems (100%)
Key facts
Department: LSE Law School
Course Study Period: Autumn Term
Unit value: Half unit
FHEQ Level: Level 7
CEFR Level: Null
Total students 2024/25: Unavailable
Average class size 2024/25: Unavailable
Controlled access 2024/25: NoCourse selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.
Personal development skills
- Communication
- Specialist skills