History

İstanbul Bilgi University’s initial structure did not include a Faculty of Law. However, in a short span of time, it was decided to establish a Faculty of Law with the Council of Ministers Decree dated 28 March 1997. The Faculty of Law had its first alumni graduate in 2001. The founding dean of BİLGİ Faculty of Law was Prof. Dr. Uğur Alacakaptan. Prof. Dr. Uğur Alacakaptan is one of the leading professors of criminal law and had previously served as the dean of Ankara University’s Faculty of Law and was a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.

Prof. Dr. Uğur Alacakaptan quitted his position as the dean of BİLGİ Faculty of Law due to his health condition in November, 1999 but continued to be a member of the faculty. Simultaneously, Prof Dr. Belgin Erdoğmuş, who was a former faculty member at İstanbul University Faculty of Law and one of the most prominent Roman Law experts of Turkey, was appointed as the dean. He served as the dean until 2002. Turgut Tarhanlı, a professor of Public International Law and Human Rights Law, served as the dean of BİLGİ Faculty of Law from 2002 until January, 2020. The deanships of BİLGİ Law Faculty were held by Prof. Dr. Mehmet Murat İnceoğlu between 2020 and 2021, Prof. Dr. Leyla Keser Berber between 2021 and 2022, and Prof. Dr. Kübra Doğan Yenisey between 2022 and 2024. Prof. Dr. Kerem Cem Sanlı has been the dean of the Faculty of Law since 2024.

Today, 27 years after its establishment, BİLGİ Faculty of Law has nearly 3400 undergraduate and more than 1700 graduate alumni, near 50 full-time faculty members and research assistants, 6 research and practice centers along with the Informatics and Technology Law Institute, 4 graduate studies programs and 2 PhD programs along with the undergraduate program.