Laboratories

CRIMINAL LAW AND CRIMINOLOGY LABORATORY

With an interdisciplinary approach, the Criminal Law and Criminology Laboratory carries out studies and activities for both scholarship and practice in the field of national and international law, with the aim of solving problems related to criminal law through scientific methods and ensuring harmony between the fields of human rights and criminal law.

The laboratory also aims to carry out national and international scientific research, analysis, applied studies, training and documentation work in the fields of criminology and sociology, covering both private and public dimensions; to cooperate with relevant public and private sector organizations; to direct scientific research and analysis in line with the needs encountered in practice; and to ensure that the results of scientific research and analysis are adopted in practice.

ANIMAL AND NATURE LAW LABORATORY

The Animal and Nature Law Laboratory (HDH-ANL Lab), established in January 2022 within the Bahçeşehir University Faculty of Law, is a law laboratory that examines and researches the legal status of non-human natural entities. Today's legal system, which has its foundations in the bourgeois economic infrastructure and the values of the Enlightenment, is built on the uniqueness and superiority of human beings. Current legal systems grant rights only to humans and attribute legal value only to them. This perspective, which separates humans from nature, has led to the establishment of a legally protected order of exploitation over other living and non-living beings. Today, it is widely debated that the failure to grant rights to non-human beings has caused a significant and widespread injustice that has so far been ignored. Another consequence of this approach, which deprives animals and nature of rights, is the climate crisis we are currently facing. The HDH-ANL Lab was established to seek legal remedies for this unjust legal order and for the climate crisis. The laboratory focuses on the legal dimension of the animal liberation movement, which has intensified and grown stronger since the 1970s, and on how the climate crisis, whose effects have become increasingly visible particularly in recent decades, can be mitigated and even reversed through legal means. Within this scope, the HDH-ANL Lab plans to carry out academic activities such as holding reading and discussion meetings with students, organizing debates, conducting literature reviews and archiving, carrying out research and providing resource support to researchers, writing reports, compiling decisions in animal- and nature-related cases filed in Türkiye and abroad, providing legal support to lawyers in such ongoing cases, preparing amicus curiae briefs for courts, translating news and academic works published in foreign languages and publishing them on its website or in print, and organizing conferences, panels and talks.

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COMPARATIVE CIVIL LAW LABORATORY

The Comparative Civil Law Laboratory was established under the Human Rights and Freedoms Application and Research Center to carry out informative activities for the public in the field of civil law, with particular attention to comparative law; to prepare expert opinions and amicus curiae briefs (friend-of-the-court opinions) in this field within the framework of the relevant legislation; and to contribute to national and international studies in civil law.

This year, the Comparative Civil Law Laboratory particularly aims to hold events highlighting condominium law as its main area of study. Within this scope, workshops will be organized to address the legal problems encountered and to offer possible solutions. In addition to carrying out its planned activities, the laboratory aims to publish the work it produces in this field.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LAW LABORATORY

The Artificial Intelligence Law Laboratory carries out studies on issues at the intersection of artificial intelligence and law, examining the legal implications of technological developments through scientific methods. In this context, existing international regulations in the fields of artificial intelligence and information technologies are researched, particularly together with students, and the corresponding regulations in Turkish law are evaluated in light of them to identify gaps. The legislative study is planned to be published as a scientific publication. The laboratory also provides legal support for artificial intelligence applications developed and projects carried out both at our University and at other universities and institutions. Furthermore, to achieve these objectives, the laboratory cooperates with national and international organizations working in the field of AI law, conducts high-quality studies and projects, and holds meetings.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW LABORATORY

The International Trade Law Laboratory focuses on international law as it is shaped and changed by the needs of international trade. Within the scope of the laboratory's work, developments in international trade law in Türkiye and around the world will be monitored, and changes and innovations in legislation related to international trade will be examined from a comparative law perspective.

The International Trade Law Laboratory aims to conduct scientific research on current and important issues of international law such as the protection of foreign investments, the harmonization of private international law, electronic commerce, lex mercatoria, INCOTERMS, ICC Model Contracts and alternative dispute resolution methods in international disputes, particularly arbitration and med-arb; to evaluate the relevant regulations in Turkish law and comparative law; and to organize various events in interaction with practice. To this end, our laboratory will work in cooperation with non-governmental organizations, public institutions and the private sector engaged in international trade law in order to realize activities such as non-periodical publications, symposiums and workshops.