Big Tech companies such as Google, Amazon, Meta, Apple and Microsoft play an important role in the digital economy and in our daily lives. They have transformed how we shop, search and communicate and few of us would want to give up the convenience they bring. Yet the rapid growth and enormous power of these companies have also raised serious concerns. Have these companies become digital monopolies? Have they abused their market power to exclude smaller competitors? Have they become so large that they can no longer be regulated? Do they pose risks to democracy and other public values? This course examines these questions primarily through the lens of competition law, while also paying close attention to other key areas of digital regulation. Big Tech is a natural subject for transnational legal analysis because these firms operate across borders in ways that no single legal order can fully capture. The main focus of the course will be on the approach in the EU, Japan and the U.S., and how these regimes interact, but developments in other jurisdictions may be discussed where relevant. By the end of the course, students should be able to: •Understand the main legal problems raised by Big Tech. •Explain the legal tools used to address these problems. •Describe and compare how the EU, Japan and the U.S. regulate Big Tech.

Big Tech companies such as Google, Amazon, Meta, Apple and Microsoft play an important role in the digital economy and in our daily lives. They have transformed how we shop, search and communicate and few of us would want to give up the convenience they bring. Yet the rapid growth and enormous power of these companies have also raised serious concerns. Have these companies become digital monopolies? Have they abused their market power to exclude smaller competitors? Have they become so large that they can no longer be regulated? Do they pose risks to democracy and other public values? This course examines these questions primarily through the lens of competition law, while also paying close attention to other key areas of digital regulation. Big Tech is a natural subject for transnational legal analysis because these firms operate across borders in ways that no single legal order can fully capture. The main focus of the course will be on the approach in the EU, Japan and the U.S., and how these regimes interact, but developments in other jurisdictions may be discussed where relevant. By the end of the course, students should be able to: •Understand the main legal problems raised by Big Tech. •Explain the legal tools used to address these problems. •Describe and compare how the EU, Japan and the U.S. regulate Big Tech.

This seminar aims to discuss the social / historical bases on which a modern legal system might operate in various East Asian societies, and to provide an introduction to some of those problems involving the integration of different legal traditions into a pluralistic yet coherent legal regime. We will focus on the tensions experienced by these societies, involving the importation of what were presented as "universal" values and norms, and the near-universal resistance to these values and norms, such resistance being based on the notions of custom and tradition. While the initial focus will be mainly on the experiences concerning the formation of legal institutions in China and Japan, students will be encouraged to bring in perspectives from other societies as well. The problems discussed will include: the difficulties regarding what exactly can be identified as East Asian legal traditions; how legal regimes were structured through the actions of actors exploiting the plurality of legal traditions; and how the relationship between legal arrangements and the political power-structure played out. Particular attention will also be paid to the issues of colonialism, and the uneasy relationship between Modernisation, Westernisation and Colonisation in these societies. The ability to read source materials written in Chinese and/or Japanese would be of much help, but will not be essential.

This seminar aims to discuss the social / historical bases on which a modern legal system might operate in various East Asian societies, and to provide an introduction to some of those problems involving the integration of different legal traditions into a pluralistic yet coherent legal regime. We will focus on the tensions experienced by these societies, involving the importation of what were presented as "universal" values and norms, and the near-universal resistance to these values and norms, such resistance being based on the notions of custom and tradition. While the initial focus will be mainly on the experiences concerning the formation of legal institutions in China and Japan, students will be encouraged to bring in perspectives from other societies as well. The problems discussed will include: the difficulties regarding what exactly can be identified as East Asian legal traditions; how legal regimes were structured through the actions of actors exploiting the plurality of legal traditions; and how the relationship between legal arrangements and the political power-structure played out. Particular attention will also be paid to the issues of colonialism, and the uneasy relationship between Modernisation, Westernisation and Colonisation in these societies. The ability to read source materials written in Chinese and/or Japanese would be of much help, but will not be essential.

Big Tech companies such as Google, Amazon, Meta, Apple and Microsoft play an important role in the digital economy and in our daily lives. They have transformed how we shop, search and communicate and few of us would want to give up the convenience they bring. Yet the rapid growth and enormous power of these companies have also raised serious concerns. Have these companies become digital monopolies? Have they abused their market power to exclude smaller competitors? Have they become so large that they can no longer be regulated? Do they pose risks to democracy and other public values? This course examines these questions primarily through the lens of competition law, while also paying close attention to other key areas of digital regulation. Big Tech is a natural subject for transnational legal analysis because these firms operate across borders in ways that no single legal order can fully capture. The main focus of the course will be on the approach in the EU, Japan and the U.S., and how these regimes interact, but developments in other jurisdictions may be discussed where relevant. By the end of the course, students should be able to: •Understand the main legal problems raised by Big Tech. •Explain the legal tools used to address these problems. •Describe and compare how the EU, Japan and the U.S. regulate Big Tech.

How does law realize public policy? What prevents laws to be effective? How can practitioners prepare for various stages in the making of law and public policy? With the focus on international economic law, this course will address these questions by exploring the two-level game theory, which views international negotiations as simultaneous discussions at both the domestic and international levels, as well as the concept of ambiguity of law. This course is structured around three learning objectives: (1) understanding the theories of law and public policy; (2) applying theoretical understanding of law and public policy to real-life issues and cases; and (3) experiencing negotiations and briefings which are the daily activities of practitioners.

・英語で日本法を学ぶ機会を広く提供するプログラムであり、アメリカ、オーストラリア、韓国、シンガポール、タイ、台湾、中国、ベルギーなど各国からの学生が参加する予定である。本学の学生にとっても、世界各国の学生や、海外で活躍する日本の一線級の実務家・研究者と議論し、大いに見聞を拡げ、将来に向けての継続的な交流の手がかりを得る場となることが見込まれる。 ・講師が単に日本法の講義を行うというのではなく、多様なバックグラウンドを持つ参加者間でのディスカッションを通じて、日本が直面する現在の法的な問題に取り組むことを想定している。また、最高裁判所や法律事務所の見学を予定しており、学生の間に日本の法実務に触れる良い機会にもなろう。

　講義では充分に論ずることのできない基礎的ないし原理的な論点を、掘り下げて考察することを目標とする。その際、演習が散漫なものになるのを防ぐための工夫として、参加者には、「書評」という文章ジャンルに挑戦されるよう、強く希望したい。

　19世紀ドイツ憲法学の集大成者でありゲオルク・イェリネックが、ウィーン大学時代の末期に公刊したモノグラフである『法律と命令』。実証主義公法学のチャンピオン、パウル・ラーバントの出世作になった『予算法論』が提起した主題を、縦軸（歴史）と横軸（比較）を視野に入れながら、国法学的思惟の確立をめざした作品。この著作に取り組むことを通じて、憲法解釈論に、国法学的思惟がどのようにして介入してくるのかを、参加者とともに考えたい。

This course explores the role of law and governance in mediating the human-environment interface. It focuses on the Anthropocene as it confronts law and governance scholars with a unique challenge concerning the need to question, and ultimately re-imagine, international environmental law and governance interventions in the light of a new socio-ecological situation. Through interactive lectures, classroom discussions based upon pre-assigned readings, oral presentations, and the elaboration of a joint mini-project, students not only assess the (mostly unsuccessful and ineffective) regulatory interventions used thus far to mediate the human-environment interface; they also examine the possibility to develop counter-narratives and alternative institutional practices, by drawing on most recent critical legal approaches as well as sociocultural traditions that have been marginalised within international environmental law.