Double Success for BAU Law at ISTAC: Third Place and Best Counsel Award

In the Mediation stage of the Young ISTAC 10th Arbitration Lawyer of the Future Competition, organized by the Istanbul Arbitration Centre (ISTAC) and held on 21-22 February, our BAU Faculty of Law team won the "Third Place Award" and team member Tuana Yetimoğlu won the "Best Counsel Award".

We congratulate our competition team students Elif Şerifoğlu, Mustafa Irmak, Rüzgar Yılmaz, Selin Türkarslan, Tuana Yetimoğlu and Yaren Sezgin, as well as our team coaches Research Assistant Merve Ardıç Tüken and our alumna Research Assistant Hilal Patat, on their success.

Assist. Prof. Dr. Mert Nomer Addresses Artificial Intelligence and the Rule of Law at IVR2026

Assist. Prof. Dr. Mert Nomer, faculty member at the Bahçeşehir University Faculty of Law and Deputy Director of the BAU Artificial Intelligence Law and Ethics Application and Research Center (YETİ), presented his paper titled "Is the Rule of Law Possible Without Human Judgment?" at The 32nd World Congress of the International Association for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (IVR2026), held in Istanbul.

The paper addressed the opportunities and risks that the use of artificial intelligence in legal decision-making processes creates with respect to the principle of the rule of law. While it was noted that artificial intelligence has the potential to increase efficiency in the legal field, reduce inconsistencies between decisions and limit certain human biases, it was emphasized that these advantages alone are not sufficient to safeguard the rule of law.

Assist. Prof. Dr. Nomer stated that the rule of law is not limited to producing accurate, fast or uniform outcomes; legal decisions must also be understandable, justifiable and accountable to the people affected by them. In this framework, the presentation discussed not only whether artificial intelligence systems can produce outcomes consistent with legal norms, but also whether they can take part in the processes of justification that make legal authority legitimate.

The presentation focused on three fundamental issues that artificial intelligence raises with respect to the rule of law: explainability, accountability and reciprocity. It was argued that artificial intelligence systems often base their decisions on statistical correlations rather than legal justification, that unlike human judges they cannot take responsibility for their decisions, and that they risk weakening the rational relationship between the citizen and public authority that lies at the heart of the judicial process.

While acknowledging that artificial intelligence can make significant contributions to the legal field, the paper concluded that human judgment should not be entirely replaced in judicial processes. Assist. Prof. Dr. Nomer emphasized that artificial intelligence applications should be implemented gradually and in a context-sensitive manner, without undermining the procedural values that safeguard the rule of law.

Directly connected to the areas of work of the BAU Artificial Intelligence Law and Ethics Application and Research Center, the presentation opened up for discussion the growing role of artificial intelligence in legal systems not only in terms of technological efficiency, but also in terms of the principles of legal legitimacy, human responsibility and democratic accountability.

Faculty of Law Academics at the NATO Summit

Assist. Prof. Dr. Mert Nomer, faculty member at the Bahçeşehir University Faculty of Law and academic at the Artificial Intelligence Law and Ethics Application and Research Center (YETİ), and Assist. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Uzun will take part in an important round table meeting to be held as part of the international events organized within the scope of the NATO Summit.

The closed session titled "Round Table IV — The Responsibility Gap: Autonomous Weapon Systems, Meaningful Human Control and the 2026 Threshold" will address current legal and ethical debates on legal responsibility, accountability, meaningful human control and the principles of international humanitarian law with regard to AI-enabled autonomous weapon systems.

This participation is an important development that strengthens the international academic visibility of the Bahçeşehir University Faculty of Law and YETİ in the fields of artificial intelligence law, international law and security policy. It is also an important indicator of our University's academic collaborations on a global scale and its presence on international platforms.

Strategic Academic Cooperation between Bahçeşehir University and Leading Universities of Japan

On 30 June 2026, following meetings with representatives of The University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Kanazawa University and Doshisha University, among Japan's leading higher education institutions, the Bahçeşehir University Faculty of Law and the BAU Artificial Intelligence Law and Ethics Application and Research Center reached an agreement in principle to develop joint projects in the fields of education, research and academic exchange.

At the productive working dinner, consensus was reached on launching work on joint scientific research, particularly in artificial intelligence law and ethics, international academic collaborations and student-faculty exchange programs.

We believe that this international cooperation will make significant contributions to our University, our students and the scientific community, and we are starting preparations to put our joint work into practice as soon as possible.