Human Rights Law at BİLGİ

Human rights at BILGI comes forth, specifically in the context of programs and research in law, through several academic and social means such as programs in various levels, undergraduate and graduate courses, research, publications, professional training, activities of student clubs and a vast library collection on human rights law.  In legal education, courses in different fields of law dwell on features of human rights law. This applies to BILGI Law Faculty. However at BILGI Law Faculty, Human Rights Law is offered as a compulsory course of the final year curriculum.

Another important and distinctive educational component of human rights education at BILGI Law Faculty is the clinical legal education method that was initiated in 2003 as the first such clinical training ever offered in legal education in Turkey which aims to provide, in an interdisciplinary approach, an understanding of ‘rights’ as well as the skills of practical utilization. Bilgi Law Clinic program has two components, the Legal Aid Type with its two different tracks in private law and public law, and the Street Law Type in which a preliminary course on laws and regulations regarding the rights of prisoners has been provided for the prisoners stayed in three different prisons located in the city of İstanbul. This is an activity which is supported by and worked in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice.

Following the establishment of the Human Rights Law Research Center in 2000, LL.M in Human Rights Law program was launched in 2001 as the first ever Masters degree program to offer human rights law as an area of specialization.  Respecting the global approach in post-graduate law programs, LL.M in Human Rights Law program comprises of courses on the theory of human rights in addition to other courses that can be defined within the sphere of human rights law.

The Center maintains bold cooperation with other research and training units and programs at BILGI.