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. Since then, Prof. Dr. M. Murat İnceoğlu, a professor of civil law, has been serving as the dean of the Faculty of Law.

Today, 23 years after its establishment, BİLGİ Faculty of Law has more than 2800 undergraduate and more than 1200 graduate alumni, more than 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.