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SWEDEN
Introduction
Sweden is one of the Scandinavian countries. In terms of population it is the biggest one with about nine million inhabitants. The capital Stockholm, situated on the Baltic Sea coast, is a city on the water. Its Old Town is a small island and bridges and tunnels connect the different parts of the city. To the east it forms a part of a beautiful archipelago of more than 24,000 forested and rocky islands spread out within an intricate lace-work of waterways. The city has been chosen Cultural Capital of Europe 1998.
Stockholm has a rather mild climate thanks to the winds brought by the warm Gulf Stream from the Atlantic and while in winter the days may be short and dark everything is turned about when Spring arrives; in the summer the sun sets only for an hour or two. Average January temperature is around minus 3 degrees Celsius and summer temperature is in the range between plus 10 and 25 Celsius. The annual rainfall of about 560 mm is evenly distributed through the year.
The Swedish Law and Informatics Research Institute and its environment
Stockholm university has about 30,000 students. Since 1970 it occupies a newly built campus, the Frescati, just ten minutes from the City centre by subway. The Stockholm university is but one of several large institutions for higher education and research in Stockholm. Mention may also be made of the Royal Institute of Technology and the Karolinska Medical Institute. The Frescati campus houses most of the departments of Stockholm University and also the University Library, a large sports hall and the Students' Union building "Allhuset" which contains a university book shop, several restaurants, bars, a post office, student union premises, and a travel agency. The Law students have their own building, "Juristernas hus", where one finds a bookstore, a lunch bar, meeting rooms etc.
The Faculty of Law of the Stockholm University was founded in 1907. Today it comprises more than 50 members of academic staff. The faculty is the only one in Sweden to have a special chair for law and informatics. At the undergraduate level, instruction in English is given in some 20 courses of different character. The Faculty offers three Master Programmes for foreign law students. Each year about 40 foreign law students are admitted to postgraduate studies. Several specialised research institutes are active at the faculty. One of them is the Swedish Law and Informatics Research Institute (IRI), set up in 1968 by Jan Hellner and Peter Seipel. The Swedish IRI maintains a modest specialised library. It carries out research in many fields of computers and law and has frequent contacts with other research organs, public bodies and business enterprises. The present four largest projects are concerned with automation of law libraries, computer supported structuring of legal texts (in co-operation with the department for linguistics), regulation of computer networks and data communications, and computer supported teaching and training of law students.
The law degree
Each year more than 500 students begin their law studies. The completion of the law degree takes at least four and a half year. The curriculum is organised into seven terms during which 20 compulsory subjects are studied and a concluding part during which the students may choose optional subjects for deeper study. The final part of the degree consists of a graduation paper on a topic chosen in consultation with a supervisor.
Computers and Law courses
Courses in computers and law have been offered by the faculty since 1968. During different periods these courses have taken on different shapes. At present all the law students take an obligatory law and informatics course during the first year. The course totals six weeks and is divided into two parts: basic legal information retrieval (the first semester) and general legal informatics (the second semester). In addition, the law students may study computers and law as an optional ten-week course and also write their graduation papers in the field. The faculty invests considerably in network and computer laboratory facilities for the law students. In fact, law and informatics constitutes a prominent part of the profile of the faculty. At present the law and informatics teaching staff amounts to ten employees, including two full-time network technicians and one application specialist. There are 32 student work-places in the computer laboratories.
For the Erasmus students a special 12 week program will be offered in the spring and summer of 1996
(April - end of June). It will consist of three parts:
(a) Basics of law and informatics.
(b) Information security and data protection.
(c) A paper on an elected topic, preferably within the field of (b).
Part (a) will be concerned with both legal usage of IT and legal regulation of IT ("information law"). It will comprise work in the computer laboratory ("LexLab"). As for part (b), cooperation will take place with the Department for Data and Systems Science at the Royal Institute of Technology. Papers can be written in English, French or German. All teaching will be in English. In case there is an interest and arrangements can be made, students will be given opportunity to participate in other English language courses offered by the Faculty, such as European law and intellectual property law.
Languages
The course for ERASMUS students will be taught in English. Most Swedes speak English and enjoy helping out, so foreign students will have little difficulty finding their way around in Stockholm. Stockholm University also offers a course in Swedish for foreign students free of charge.
Facilities
All students will have access to the Stockholm University Library which is one of the largest and most modern libraries in Europe. There are a great number of reading rooms and computers available to the students, both PC and Macintosh. There are also sports facilities at campus where students can work-out at any time of the day. The Student Law Association is a student union with a membership of approximately 2,500 law students engaging in a variety of projects and activities.
Accommodation
The Faculty will make every effort to assist ERASMUS students in finding suitable living quarters. There are three main options of accommodation: A single study-bedroom in one of the Halls of Residence with a private toilet and shower plus kitchen facilities shared with 15 - 20 other students, a private room with a Swedish family or a private flat, usually full furnished. Prices vary considerably from about 1700 to 3000 SEK/month.
Cost of living
Recently, the Swedish krona has fallen but it is still safe to say that it is relatively expensive for foreigners to live in Stockholm. A cheap meal at the university restaurant costs around SEK 30. A restaurant in the city will charge SEK 50 to 60 for a lunch.
Whom to contact for more information:
For further information concerning the computers and law courses in Stockholm, please contact professor
Peter Seipel or Pernilla Skantze:
Stockholm University
Faculty of Law
10691 STOCKHOLM
Sweden
Phone: +46-8-16 23 01 or 16 28 92
Fax: +46-8- 612 41 09
Email:
Peter.Seipel@juridicum.su.se(Peter.Seipel@juridicum.su.se)
Pernilla.Skantze@juridicum.su.se(Pernilla.Skantze@juridicum.su.se)