The course focuses upon the concept of sovereignty within the theoretical framework of international law. It reflects upon the historical emergence of the concept and scrutinises its connections with the notions of people, self-determination, and statehood. This initial focus is supplemented by the consideration of emerging alternative perceptions of sovereignty. Emphasis is laid upon minorities, property relations, and globalism. Within the contextual framework of these emphases, the concept of sovereignty is treated in two ways. First, sovereignty is deconstructed to expose its modern exclusionary tendencies; for instance, white, European and colonialist justifications. Second, sovereignty is reconstructed to reveal its potential for inclusive alternatives that overcome Euro-centric prejudices.

The course will cover a series of topics arising in the comparative study of constitutional systems. Comparing Turkey’s and TRNC’S constitutional systems with such other countries as the USA, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Britain, India, Japan, Nigeria and South Africa, we will examine the constitutional structure, principals and basic problems related to constitutional design of different countries. Some likely topics include the varying foundations, structures and procedures of judicial review of the constitutionality of laws; the relationships between branches of government and presidential compared to parliamentary systems of governance and whether/how constitutions should address “emergency” powers; approaches to protecting minority groups; gender equality; regimes of fundamental rights and freedoms.

Technological developments have occasioned the breach of privacy and personal data. Therefore, it’s important to establish a modern data protection law for the protection of personal data. Identification and limitation of the basic gathering purposes of personal data is essential and it is necessary to prevent the use of information stored in the databases for other purposes. Subjecting the processing of personal data to certain rules, protects fundamental rights and freedoms. In this course, the concept of personal data, the problem of the nature and the protection of personal data are examined in the light of the Protection of Personal Data Act of Turkey, the decisions of the Turkish Constitutional Court, European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union.