Legal Studies

This course approaches forensic psychology as a field shaped by evidence, interpretation, method, and power. Students explore how police, courts, therapists, and predictive technologies translate lived experiences of harm into technical categories; risk, pathology, disorder, and how these translations influence decisions about victims and offenders. Students also critically analyze why victims sometimes remain attached to their perpetrators, drawing on emerging frameworks such as weaponized attachment.

The course provides an in-depth study of the regulation of the energy sector from an international, European, and Norwegian perspective. Energy law covers the regulation of and access to energy resources, energy markets - both physical and financial - and the regulation of energy use. For the purpose of this course, energy law is understood in the broad sense of the term, and both oil, gas and electricity are covered. The four stages of production, transport, supply and consumption are included, with a focus on upstream and midstream activities. The course is structured in four parts. Part I provides an introduction to the general legal concepts and principles applicable to energy activities, such as: sovereignty over natural resources, jurisdiction delimitation, ownership and exploitation models, and resources management mechanisms. Part II reviews the key components of the Norwegian model for the regulation of upstream oil and gas activities, including the licensing system, the Joint Operation Agreement, the coordination of petroleum activities at field level through unitisation and joint development, the regime for upstream gas transportation and third party access. It also covers the environmental regulation of petroleum activities. Part III is dedicated to the regulation of electricity generation (hydropower and other sources, onshore and offshore) and transmission/distribution in Norway as well as connection to the European market. This parts includes a review of the applicable European Union (EU) energy market legislation and its implementation in Norway through the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement. Part IV deals with energy trading, both upstream gas sales and wholesale electricity trading, with a review of relevant EU/EEA competition rules, internal energy market legislation and commercial practices in Norway and on the Nordic power market. Supply and energy consumption aspects are covered to a more limited extent.

This course introduces the subjects of Law of Obligations and Contracts, Rights in Rem and Mortgages, Family and Inheritance Law, Law of Torts and Consumer Law, where different legal relationships are generated in which the person is the backbone. Students examine the importance of the law as a regulatory system for social relations and a branch of the legal system that focuses on the study of individuals. Topics include the main institutions that integrate the Law of the Person, such as the capacity, the personality rights, or the different civil statuses and their meaning, having special relevance the situation of minors and disabled people and the study of the tutelary institutions. In addition to the natural person, the concept and types of legal people are addressed to give an in-depth view of their forms of organization. 

This course introduces the nature and function of international, universal, and regional organizations, and the political, economic and social reality in which they are framed. Students learn legal terminology in the field of international organizations and study legal sources (statutory, jurisprudential and doctrinal) to be able to identify the characteristic features of an international organization, understand the scope of its legal status in domestic legal systems and in the international legal system, and recognize its distinct nature.

This course offers a study of commercial law and the legal structure of business organizations including the different types of legal entities, how companies are formed, how they operate, and how they are managed. It discusses partnerships, stock companies, and shareholders' rights, as well as analyzing corporate bodies, financial statements, and major corporate changes such as mergers, spin-offs, and liquidations. 

Pre-requisites: Business Law and Financial Accounting 

This course delves into the shadows of the criminal underworld and explore the complexities of global crime. It is structured into three parts. The first section introduces the foundational theories, concepts, and terminology in global crime and justice. It covers the growing importance of knowledge production beyond traditional Anglo-American bases of power and how colonialism has shaped our understanding of the crime. In the second part, the course delves deeper into responses to global crime, from the controversial death penalty for drug trafficking to the rising militarization of borders. Students investigate how vulnerable populations can become ensnared within these complex frameworks. It untangles the complex and interwoven nature of global crimes through an in-depth study of trafficking in its many forms (human, wildlife, diamonds and antiques). This course investigates how global crimes can blur the boundaries between victims and offenders and shape borders through policing responses. Finally, it investigate state crimes, online ‘sleuthing’, and the phenomenon of ‘true crime’ consumption to illustrate how key social changes such as globalization, technology and media influence crime policing, perception and victims. Global crime offers a multidisciplinary, critical and comparative perspective in criminology.

This course examines nationality and immigration law within the Spanish legal system and the means of acquiring, retaining, losing, and recovering Spanish nationality and the administrative status of non-nationals. Topics include the rise in international migratory movements, its impact on Spain as a migration destination, and the legal framework of the rights of both citizens and non-citizens in Spain.

The course offers an introductory survey of public international law. It provides non-lawyers the ability to understand how international law influences/is influenced by international relations. It offers a detailed understanding of the sources of international law, then moves on to examine different themes in international law, such as the use of force, self-determination and laws of armed conflict. This course is premised on the idea of student-led learning: student views (informed by reading, thinking, discussion and independent research) are considered both legitimate and important. Therefore, students are not only encouraged, but expected, to participate. 

This course provides students with a knowledge and understanding of crimes of the powerful. It includes a wide range of crimes of the powerful with a broad focus on corporate crime and state crime. It addresses the nature of corporate crime, white collar crime, and state crime and conceptual discussions surrounding these concepts. It considers which criminological theories are most relevant when we try to explain the crimes of the powerful. 

This course introduces knowledge on contemporary international society and students analyze it through the study of the international system’s main actors, its structures and processes, its breaches and the main subject areas in the present global agenda (underdevelopment, environment, globalization, etc.). Topics include the importance of Law as a system of regulating social relationships, the ethical values and principles of different legal professions, and legal research methods and techniques.