6th International conference of PhD students and young legal researchers “Digitalization in Law”
On the 3rd-4th of May 2018 Vilnius University hosted an international conference of PhD students and young legal scholars organized by the VU Faculty of Law and partners. This year, the sixth conference organized by the International Legal Doctorate Network focused on the hotly debated Legal Tech issues and was called “Digitalization in Law”. More than forty PhD students from ten countries, from Latvia to even Brazil, presented their reports on various topics and discussed how new technologies change various fields of law or the legal profession.
Andrew Murray, a prominent professor from the London School of Economics and Political Science, opened the conference as an invited guest. He gave a lecture on technology and the freedom of individuals to choose their own behaviour. The question has been raised whether the individual really has more freedom in modern technology or whether someone else usually decides for us what actions we must take. In addition, it was emphasized during the lecture that one cannot really trust all the information found in the electronic space.
The PhD students focused mainly on the new European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which has been applicable in the European Union since May 25, and how it will affect the protection of personal privacy and whether, for example, it will be possible to ensure GDPR compliance in Blockchain technology.
There was also a lot of discussion about the various impacts of digitization on commercial law: from taxation issues if business is conducted with the help of cryptocurrencies to issues of trademark protection in the age of modern technology.
It is understood that reports have been read on whether modern technology will change the legal profession and whether it is possible to resolve disputes in electronic space. Various attempts to resolve both work and family disputes electronically in the Netherlands have been presented.
Summarizing all the presentations, many young scholars said that after the conference they had even more questions about how technology affects law and what awaits us in the future. The PHD students emphasized that they hope to discuss this topic at future scientific events.
As every year, an electronic publication of the conference proceedings will be published after the conference.
This conference is one of the main annual events of the International Law Doctorate Network established between the Law Faculties of Vilnius University, Frankfurt am Main J.W. Goethe University, University of Paris Nanterre and University of Lodz.
More about the activities of the International Law Doctorate Network via online: http://lawphd.net/
