To successfully undertake economic activities we cannot do without the law. Buying and selling takes place within the rules of contract law, producers depend on property rights and property law while transforming inputs into outputs and they must comply with labour law, environmental rules and regulations, or product safety regulations. And where producers and consumers interact on markets, competition law protects effective competition on those markets and consumer law protects consumers in their dealings with suppliers and producers. Also national, international and local authorities or governments are bound by constitutional, international, or administrative rules in their economic activities and in their dealings with individuals, firms, or other authorities. Providing subsidies to firms or citizens, or intervening in specific sectors like telecommunication, energy, or transport implies complying with the legal rules under which these interventions have been made possible. This list of examples can easily be expanded with many more.

The dedicated minor Law has been specifically developed for the economics students. It introduces the law and the legal system from the perspective of the central economic subjects in an economic system: consumers, firms and governments or international authorities. It also presents the law and the economy as embedding the central values of freedom, equality, and trust of western societies. Freedom and equality are the foundations of the ideal of justice, which underlies both free markets as well as intervention by government agencies. Trust is a basic value and condition for economic transactions and underlies the enforcement of contracts and promises, or the fiduciary duties of firm directors or banks and other financial institutions, or the professions.

The dedicated minor consists of the following courses:

Year 1

Period 4: ECB1IL Introduction to Law

Year 2

Period 3: ECB2EUL European Union Law
Period 4: ECB2GLR Market Law and Regulation

Year 3

Period 1: ECB3CLR Consumer Law and Regulation
Period 2: ECB3CLAR Corporate Law and Regulation
Period 3: ECB3RE Law and Economics

Please click on the courses below for more information.