UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI

SCHOOL OF LAW
GPR 325: LAW SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
COURSE OUTLINE
COURSE INSTRUCTOR: Prof. Patricia Kameri-Mbote, Dr. Peter Munyi &
Mr. Stephen Kiptiness

PART 1: THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Week 1: Introduction to the Course
Objective of the Course:
To explore the nature of interaction between law , science and technology in
the context of national and international development.
Scope of the Course
The objectives will be explored by asking three specific questions:
• What is the influence of science and technology on the development of
law?
• What is the role of law in the development and management of science
and technology?
• What is the value of science and technology in the legal process? •
What i

Week 2: Science and Technology in Development

Issues
• What is science?
• What is technology?
• A history of Science and Technology development
• Science and technology in Africa
• Kenya’s commitment to science and technology development
 1
Readings:
1. Kenya Vision 2030
2. Science Technology and Innovation Policy and Strategy
3. Science Technology and Innovation Act No.28 of 2013
4. Kenya National ICT Policy 2019
5. Collins H.T. and Pinch, The Golem What Everyone Should Know
About Science;
6. International Development Strategy for the Third UN Development
Decade, GA Resolution 35/56, Dec.1950
7. International Development Strategy for the Fourth UN Development
Decade, GA Resolution 45/199 Dec. 1990
8. Kranzberg, M. and C.W. Pursell (1967) Technology in Western
Civilisation
9. Bender, G. and T. Druckey (1996) Culture on the Brink Ideologies of
Technology
10. Feemberg, A. and A. Hannay (1995) Technology and the Politics of
Knowledge
11. Kuhn, T.S. (1986) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions 12.
Hammond, A. (1998) Which World Sceneries for the 21st Century

Week 3: Law in Development Framework

Issues:
• What is Law and why does it matter?
• Theories of law and theories about law
• Law in the development process

Readings:
1. Hart, N.L.A. (1994) The Concept of Law
2. Seidman, R.B. (1994) State and Law in Development Process 3.
Seidman, R.B. A General Theory of Law and Development Process 4.
Negal, S. (1970) Law and Social Change
5. Friedman, W. (1959) Law in a Changing Society
 2
Week 4: The Law, Science and Technology Nexus
Issues
• Clarification of goals which public policy and law must address •
The use of scientific and technological data
• Defining the infrastructure within which scientific and technological
activities are carried out
• Typology of legal responses

Readings
1. Science Technology & Innovation Policy
2. Science Technology and Innovation Act of 2013
3. Kenya National ICT Masterplan 2019
4. Kenya National Broadband Strategy 2018-2023
5. Schluck, P.H. (1993) Multi-Culturalism Redux: Science, Law and
Politics, (Yale Law and Policy Review, Vol. 11
6. Dolgin, J. Defining the Family; Law, Technology and Reproduction in
an Uneasy Age

Week 5: Domestic and International Issues

Issues
• Issues concerning the Freedom of Scientific enquiry
• Issues of Privacy in Scientific and Technological Development •
Legal Mechanisms for promotion of benefits of new technology
development
• Legal aspects of technology transfer

Readings
1. Constitution of Kenya
2. Science Technology & Innovation Policy
3. Science Technology & Innovation Act 2013
 4. Clark, G.N. (1996) Technology Transfer and the Conservation of
Biological Diversity: Emerging Policy and Institutional Issues. 5.
Nanyenya-Takirambuddle, P. (1980) Technology Transfer and
International Law
3
PART 2: LEGAL RESPONSES TO SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL
DEVELOPMENT
Week 6: The Juridical Boundaries of the Science and Technology
Enterprise
Issues:
• Therole of law in the organization of the scientific and technological
enterprise
• The need for self-regulation
• Moral, ethical and experimentation concerns
• Clinical trials and experimentation

Readings
1. Agre, F.E. and Rotenburg. M, (1998) Technology and Privacy The New
Landscape
2. Nowak, R. AIDS Researchers: Activists Fight Crisis in Clinical Trials:
Science Vol.265

Week 7: The Protection of Science and Technology Products

Issues
• Juridical basis of protection
• Territoriality of intellectual property protection
• The international framework for intellectual property protection •
Domain Names and Trademarks
Readings
1. Industrial Property Act
2. Copyright Act
3. Trademark Act
 4. Judge Fysh, (QC) The Modern Law of Patents (Lexis Nexis Butterworths)
5. Narayan, P. Intellectual Property
6. Maskns, K.E. (2000) Intellectual Property in the Global Economy

4
7. Adede, A.O. (2001) The Political Economy of the TRIPS Agreement:
Origins and History of Negotiations
8. Barton, J. (1993) Intellectual property Rights and International
Technology Transfer in the Agricultural Sector International Crop
Science, Vol.1
9. Goldstein, P. et.al, (1995) Selected Statutes and International
Agreements on Unfair Competition, Trademarks, Copyrights and
Patents

Week 8: The Protection of the Environment

Issues:
• Responses to global climate change
• Responses to the depletion of biodiversity
• Domestication of international instruments

Readings
1. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
2. United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity
3. United Nations Forest Principles
4. The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer
5. Okoth-Ogendo H.W.O. and J.B. Ojwang (1992) A Climate for
Development
6. Juma, C. et al (1994) Coming to Life, Biotechnology in African Economic
Development

PART 3: THE CHALLENGES OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TO LAW

Week 9: Challenges in the Development of Information and
Communication Technology and Artificial Intelligence
Issues:
• The province of jurimetrics
• E-commerce
• Data Protection
• Computer contracts, crimes and torts
• Invasion of privacy and national security issues
5
• Legal Aspects of encryption and cryptography
• The use of Geographic Information Technologies

Readings:
1. The Kenya Information & Communications Act (CAP
411A) 2. Data Protection Act
3. Computer Misuse and Cyber Crimes Act
4. Rutenberg, I., Cybercrime in Kenya (2019)
5. Blockchain Study (Ministry of ICT Kenya, July 2019)
6. Fox, N. Intellectual Property in Electronics and Software: A Global Guide
to Rights and Their Applications
7. Lloyd, I. Information Technology Law (5th Ed.)
8. Kamath, N. The Law Relating to Computers, Internet & E-Commerce (5th
Ed.)
9. Reed, C. and Angel, J., Computer Law (5th Ed.)
10. Carson, C. (1997) “Laser Bones”: Copyright Issues Raised by Use of
Information Technology in Archeology; Harvard Journal of Law and
Technology, 10 (2)
11. Cho, G. (1995) Legal Dilemmas in Geographic Information:
Property, Ownership and Patents, Journal of Law and Information
Science 6(2)
12. Steling, B. (1992) The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the
Electronic Frontier
13. Cavanso, E. and Morin, G. Cyberspace and the Law: Your Rights and
Duties in the Online World
14. Woheren, E.E. (1993) Information Technology in Africa

Week 10: Challenges in the Development of Genetic Engineering and

Genetic Testing
Issues:
• Underlying moral issues
• Genetically modified products
• International trade in bio-genetic resources
• Biosafety issues

Readings:
6
1. Hudson, K. et al (1995) Genetic Discrimination and Health Insurance: An
Urgent Need for Reform Vol.270
2. Mason and Smith, M. (1987) Law and Medical Ethics
3. Cunningham, D. Ethical Aspects of Research on Brain Morphology n
Psychotic Patients
4. Biosafety Act

Week 11: Challenges in the Development of Medical Science and

Technology
Issues:
• Alternative reproduction techniques
• Organ Transplants and the definition of health
• Fertility regulation and abortion
• Human Cloning

Readings:
1. Epstein, S. (1995) The Construction of Law Expertise: AIDS Activism and
the Forging of Credibility in the Reform of Clinical Trials, Science
Technology and Human Values Vol.20
2. The Declaration of Helsinki
3. Cohen, J. (1995) Bringing AZT to Poor Countries, Science Vol.269
4. Anatomy Act (CAP 249)
5. Human Tissue Act (CAP 252)
6. The Penal Code (CAP 63)
PART 4: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE LEGAL
PROCESS Week 12: The Authority of Scientific Evidence
Issues:
• The need for scientific evidence
• Technology assessment in the course
• The limits of forensic evidence
• The limits of lie detection

7
Readings:
1. Jasanoff, S. (1997) Science at the Bar
2. Butsel, H.M. (1987) Genetics in the Courts
3. Ayala, F.J. and Black, B. (1993) Science and the Courts; American
Science 230
4. The Evidence Act (CAP 80)

Additional Readings:
1. Murray J.E. & Flechtner H.M. (2003) Sales, Leases & Electronic
Commerce: Problems and Materials on National & International
Trasnactions, 2nd Edition
2. Zittrain J. (2008) The Future of the Internet (and How to Stop it)
3. DiBona C., Ockman S., Stone M. (1999) Open Sources, 1st Edition
4. Ponte L.M., Cavenagh T.T. (2005) Cyberjustice
5. Davis J., Miller G., (2006) Russell A., Information Revolution 6. Cordell
N. (2014) Intellectual Property and the Internet (A Global Guide to
Protecting IP Online)
7. Fox N., (2013) Intellectual Property in Electronics and Software (A Global
Guide to Rights and Their Applications
8