Level: 200 level. Read more information on levels in our FAQs

Fees:  Please see Fees and payments

Lectures: 36 hours 

Classes: 18 hours

Assessment*: An essay and a take-home examination

Typical credit**: 3-4 credits (US) 7.5 ECTS points (EU)

*Assessment is optional

**You will need to check with your home institution

For more information on exams and credit, read Teaching and assessment

Introduction to legal methods or equivalent.

Throughout the course, the lecture sessions are used to explain the law and regulation applicable to each theme, to develop international comparisons, and to introduce the case study seminar problems. The course uses English law and regulation (as informed by European human rights law) as the default teaching vehicle, but at all stages interrogates and compares equivalent laws in North American, European, and other comparable jurisdictions. The course will explore the following themes:

• Freedom of Speech in Concept
• Reputation and Defamation I (overview)
• Reputation and Defamation II (specific concerns)
• Privacy, Publication and Freedom of Speech
• New Legal Technologies: the Impact of Data Protection Laws
• Prejudicial Publicity and Contempt of Court
• Regulating for Political Neutrality
• Regulating to Avoid Harm and Offence
• Terrorism and National Security
• The Protection of Journalists’ Sources and Materials
• Access to State Information I (freedom of information)
• Access to State Information II (access to courts and court documents)
• Regulating Surreptitious Journalistic Practice

• Critically evaluate ongoing developments in law relating to media publication and newsgathering
• Display an understanding of how these developments relate to one another
• Examine areas of doctrinal and political debate surrounding rules and theories
• Compare and contrast the development of relevant laws and regulation in the UK with equivalent rules in other major jurisdictions
• Draw on the analysis and evaluation contained in primary and secondary sources

LSE’s Law Department is one of the world’s best. In the UK, it was ranked first for research outputs in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) and in the top 5 law departments overall by The Complete University Guide in 2018. In the 2017 QS World University rankings, the Department was ranked seventh (out of 200 departments worldwide).

Many important subjects were first taught and examined systematically from an academic perspective in LSE’s Department of Law. We pioneered the study of banking law, taxation law, civil litigation, company law, labour law, family law, aspects of welfare law, and studies of the legal system and the legal profession, and continue to be the leading thinkers in our field.

On this three-week intensive programme, you will engage with and learn from full-time lecturers from the LSE’s law faculty.

The course will rely on three main texts and an array of other readings, all of which are made available to students electronically through the LSE library:

–  Hare and Weinstein (eds), Extreme Speech and Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2009).

– Millar and Scott, Newsgathering: Law, Regulation and the Public Interest (Oxford University Press, 2016).

–  Parkes and Mullis (eds), Gatley on Libel and Slander (12^th rev edn, London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2015).

*A more detailed reading list will be supplied prior to the start of the programme

**Course content, faculty and dates may be subject to change without prior notice