Department of Juridical Studies
Department of Current Legal Studies
Department of Global Legal Studies
Department of Political Science
The Department of Current Legal Studies focuses on three areas of contemporary law: consumer law, which addresses the rights and roles of consumers; corporate law, which addresses laws relevant to corporate activities; and environmental law, which addresses laws and policies to protect the global environment. Students make frequent use of computer technology to develop decision-making and information utilization skills appropriate to the information age.
Classes include special seminars (Legal Information Processing Seminar 1 and 2, etc.), information technology subjects (Information Processing 1-4, Law of Privacy and Disclosure, and Law and Artificial Intelligence, etc.), and consumer, corporate, and environmental law classes.
The Department arranges internships at consumer affairs centers in city and ward offices as well as at consumer organizations. Seeing laws and policies they learned about in the classroom being implemented is an opportunity for students to think about their own career path.
The Department offers a particularly strong lineup of classes on consumer law. In addition to full-time faculty members well-versed in legal practice, outside practitioners deliver classes with a real-world focus on topics such as important consumer rights legislation and its enforcement. Practitioners also teach consumer law seminars (compulsory elective), where students learn about the practice of consumer law in a small group setting.
In the environmental law course group, students learn about the natural sciences while examining laws and regulations aimed at protecting the natural environment and preserving healthy living environments. In the corporate law course group, they study a wide range of laws aimed at regulating the corporate activities that underlie the economy.
The Department provides model courses of study geared toward the following career paths: graduate study in the law, civil service, private sector, consumer affairs, environmental affairs, and international affairs. There is also a free model not tied to any particular career.
The Department incorporates advanced computer-based education to support its curriculum of cutting-edge law. Students refine their IT skills in small classes and develop the ability to gather and disseminate information and texts related to the law. In the third and fourth years, students continue their study of the law by focusing on three cutting-edge fields. While acquiring advanced legal knowledge, they engage in self-directed learning through seminar classes, improving their awareness of various issues and their ability to solve problems.
Students will learn about laws for resolving issues arising in a society that includes artificial intelligence (AI). AI is becoming increasingly commonplace, as seen in products and services like AI speakers and machine translation, and society today faces a major transformation. While AI has become an indispensable behind-the-scenes support for society, we can also expect AI to cause various problems. With the goal of finding solutions to such problems, students will learn the basics of AI and the role that law will play in an AI-based society.
Students will learn about systems that are essential to a company’s trading activities. To grasp basic frameworks for contract law, students will study fundamental theories and ideas that commonly exist at the root of contracts. In doing so, students will acquire core ideas for civil law.
Students will learn in consumer administration and other fields through practical experience. Students will learn how to apply the theories they learned at university through on-the-job experience at local governments, consumer-related organizations, etc.