The subject “Personal data protection in the EU and third countries” takes its place in the professional preparation of the students in the specialty “Law”. According to the curriculum of the specialty “Law”, it is an elective subject to be studied in the eighth semester. The curriculum has been changed by the Decision of the Academic Assembly, Protocol No 18 of 22.12.2021, and aims to implement the following project “European Data Protection: Post pandemic effects and new dimensions” (EDP- PPEND),” which is implemented with the financial support of the Erasmus+ Programme 2021-2027, an action under the Jean Monnet Module initiative in the field of higher education. The implementation of the project aims to respond to the need to deepen and acquire knowledge and skills related to EU legislation and its application to the protection of personal data in both EU Member States and third countries.
The main aim of the course is to provide basic knowledge about the nature and features of personal data protection and the basic concepts, subjects, relationships, phenomena, events, theories, etc., analyzed by it.
To achieve this aim, the following major tasks are addressed through lectures:
To reveal the historical background of the necessity of personal data protection and its regulation within the European and, subsequently, national legislation.
To study the theory and philosophy of European and national legislation on personal data protection and their free transfer.
To reveal the essence of personal data protection, to clarify and specify the ideas and the concept of personal data protection of individuals, and the free transfer of these data.
Disclose and justify the relationship between the obligation to protect personal data and its lawful processing, use, storage, and destruction.
To clarify the specificities, responsibilities, and functions of personal data subjects, data administrators, data processors, data protection officers, and supervisory authorities and the interaction between them.
To study the main similarities in the processing, sharing, and protection of personal data within the EU and between Member States and third countries and international organizations.
To examine the substance and the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and the Council of 27 March 2016 on the protection of natural persons about the processing of personal data, their free transfer, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation), which scope is related to third countries and the application of Directive (EU) 2016/680 on the protection of natural persons about the processing of personal data by competent authorities for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of criminal offenses. Outside the EU, such norms are often described as ‘privacy protection,’ ‘information privacy’ or, more often, ‘data privacy’. The main objective of the course is to focus on European and international codes, mainly the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679), the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) Article 8, the EU Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications (Directive 2002/58/EC), together with case law under these instruments.
Present the main emphasis and analyze the most important case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) about personal data protection.
To consider case studies at a national level that play a significant role in determining the relevance of the debate on data protection.
The specificities of the education of data protection in the EU and third countries are determined by the nature of this course and its functions in terms of knowledge of society and interactions within it.
The following methods of teaching are used: debate, discussion, presentation, group discussion, heuristic discussion, brainstorming, debate method, associative method, experimentation, testing, modeling, presentation, use of the role-play method, demonstration, analyzing and discussing problem situations, staging problem situations, etc.
Expected results. By teaching this course we aim to: increase the student’s interest in the issues and contribute to their activation in the process of their own personal and professional development; support the development of personal readiness for more effective performance of professional tasks and successful management of conflict and stressful situations, solving specific problems related to the specifics of future professional life; stimulate the development of a mobile and flexible attitude towards diverse behavioral patterns that determine the effective and successful performance of specific professional tasks; the development of heuristic and critical thinking, empathic understanding, curiosity, independence, the desire for knowledge, and the aspiration for self-learning and self-development are supported; encouraging tolerance, autonomy, teamwork, etc.
