Dr Berna Akcali Gur, PhD (UK), LLM (USA), LLB (Turkey), Avukat (Istanbul Bar)

Profile

Dr Akcali Gur is the module convenor for Outer Space Law at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies.

Dr Akcali Gur's research focuses on public international law, world trade law, and EU Law implications of the advancements in information communication technologies. In her latest project entitled "Global Governance of Satellite Broadband, " she conducted a comprehensive law and policy analysis of the internet services provided by mega satellite constellations deployed in the Low Earth Orbit. Her earlier work identifies, analyzes, and critically evaluates legal and policy problems arising from the global flows of data and the cross-border provision of digital content. In her more recent work, she also assesses and emphasizes the relationship of these problems with the geopolitics of global communications infrastructure. Her work has been published in leading academic journals. Berna Akcali Gur also conducts research in collaboration with the Digital Governance Cluster OF the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies, where she is an Associate Research Fellow.

Previously, Dr Akcali Gur convened the WTO Law: Fundamental Principles module at CCLS. She held research positions at the Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London, and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies University of London. During her time as a lecturer at Kadir Has University Law School in Istanbul, she convened WTO Law, Internet Governance International and European Media Law, and Comparative Law modules. Before becoming an academic, Berna practiced law in Istanbul, New York, and London.

Dr Akcali Gur received her LLB from Ankara University Law School and an LLM degree from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. She received her Ph.D. in 2014 from King's College London, The Dickson Poon School of Law, with a thesis on Limits on state autonomy in regulating services trade: regional and international trade liberalization commitments and public morals.

Berna is the serving Chair of the Membership Committee and a member of the Annual Symposium Program Committee of the Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet). She is a qualified lawyer, admitted to the Istanbul Bar Association. Also, she is a member of the European Centre for Space Law, Trade Experettes - a global network of women trade experts-Internet Society London Chapter, and the European Society for International Law.

Postgraduate Teaching

• SOLM296 Outer Space Law

Research

Research Interests:

Dr Akcali Gur is currently engaged in various projects where she analyses international law implications of the advancements in terrestrial and space-based global information communication infrastructures (i.e., satellites and submarine cables). She is also working on new projects concerning international law and policy problems arising from the commercialization of outer space.

Funded research

• Berna Akcali Gur and Joanna Kulesza received an Internet Society Foundation research grant for their "Global Governance of LEO Satellite Broadband" project in January 2022.

Works in progress

View Dr Akcali Gur's work in progress.

Publications

Articles in Peer-reviewed journals:

• “Equitable Access to Satellite Broadband Services – Challenges and Opportunities for Developing Countries” (co-authored with Prof. Joanna Kulesza), Telecommunications Policy, 102731, March 2024.
• "Cybersecurity, European Sovereignty and the 5G Rollout Crisis" Computer Law & Security Review, Volume 46, 105736, September 2022.
• "Restrictions on Trade in Telecommunications: WTO's cybersecurity conundrum" Journal of World Trade, Volume 55, Issue 3, Summer 2021.
• "The Normative Power of the EU: A Case Study of Data Protection Laws of Turkey" International Data Privacy Law, Volume 10, Issue 3, Summer 2020.
• "Transborder Flows of Personal Data from a Public International Law Perspective" Marmara University Law Research Journal, Fall 2019.
• "The effect of the diversity of public morals among the European Union Member States on the Internal Market: Analysis of cross-border Internet Gambling Services as an internal market problem", Law & Justice Review, Year 6, Issue 11, December 2015.
• "Structural Comparative Analysis of the Legal Definition of Gambling", Journal of Anadolu University Law School, Volume 1, Issue 2, Summer 2015.
• "The autonomy of the states in regulating services trade in areas that concern their public morals", Journal of Kadir Has University Law School, Volume 3, Issue 1, June 2015.

Book Section:

• P. Keller and B. Akcali Gur (2024), Global Communications Law in Yahya Kamalipour ed. Global Communication: A Multicultural Perspective, 4th Edition. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 97.
• I. Caglar and B. Akcali Gur (2019), The State's Due Diligence Obligation in R. West, C. Bowman and D.S. Clarke eds.Research Handbook on Feminist Jurisprudence. Edward Elgar Publishing, 485.

Shorter Articles and Policy Papers:

• “Resilient Connectivity: SpaceX’s Stellar Solution for Gaza’s Internet Amid Conflict”, (co-authored with Prof. Joanna Kulesza), EUISS, Directions, 2 February 2024.
• "Activated! Public dissent, internet access, and satellite broadband - will human rights online become privatized?", (co-authored with Prof. Joanna Kulesza), Internet Policy Review, forthcoming February 2023.
• "Satellite Internet Access in Times of Cyber Conflict," (co-authored with Prof. Joanna Kulesza), EUISS, Directions, 28 April 2022.
• "Digital Music and Online Intermediaries," (co-authored with Prof. Chris Reed), Computers & Law, June/July 2010, Vol.21, Issue 2, adopted by Society for Computers and Law as Policy Document.

Public Engagement

• Dr Akcali Gur is the serving chair of the Membership Committee of the Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet).
• Dr Akcali Gur was a speaker at “UN Sustainable Development Goals, Satellite Broadband and WTO Law”, at Farabi University, Kazakhstan, Roundtable on the Role of the WTO in Achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals: International Legal Aspects 27 February 2024.
• Dr Akcali Gur was a speaker at “The Quest for Internet Freedom via Satellite: the Lessons Ukraine Has Learned from Starlink and the Future of Satellite Internet” The German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Navigating the Evolving Internet Fragmentation: Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia Expert Workshop, 30 November 2023.
• Dr Akcali Gur was a panellist in Data Governance in Broadband Satellite Services Workshop at Internet Governance Forum 2023 in Kyoto, Japan, on 12 October 2023.
• Dr Akcali Gur was a panellist in the Broadband from Space! Can it close the Digital Divide? Workshop at the Internet Governance Forum 2023 in Kyoto, Japan.
• Dr Akcali Gur presented “Internet Fragmentation and its Environmental Impact: A Case Study of Satellite Broadband” (co-authored with Prof. Joanna Kulesza) at the GigaNet Annual Symposium on 8 October 2023.
• Dr Akcali Gur presented “ICANN's Role in Satellite Internet Governance” at the EURALO Pre-ICANN78 Webinar on 22 September 2023.
• Dr Akcali Gur presented her views on “Cyber Resilience and the Geopolitics of Cybersecurity” as a panellist at the stakeholders roundtable at the Seventh European Multidisciplinary Conference on Global Internet Governance Actors, Regulations, Transactions and Strategies (GIG-ARTS 2023) on 15 May 2023.
• Dr Akcali Gur was a speaker at the "Lasers in Space! Can Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellites Close the Digital Divide?" workshop at the World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2023.
• Dr Akcali Gur was a speaker at the Cyber Resilience and the Geopolitics of Cybersecurity - Stakeholders Roundtable at the Seventh European Multidisciplinary Conference on Global Internet Governance Actors, Regulations, Transactions and Strategies (GIG-ARTS 2023) on 15 May 2023.
• Dr Akcali Gur and Prof. Joanna Kulezsa presented their project findings at Global Governance of LEO Satellite Broadband at RightsCon Costa Rica on 5 May 2023.
• Dr Akcali Gur taught "Global Governance of LEO Satellite Broadband" at the Cybersecurity and International Law Course at European Security and Defence College on 25 January 2023.
• Dr Akcali Gur is a member of the Annual Symposium Program Committee of GigaNet.
• "European and International Law Implications of Satellite Broadband Constellations in LEO," Internet Governance Forum, Global Governance of LEO Satellite Broadband Workshop, 30 November 2022.
• "What We Owe Each Other: Equitable Access to Secure, Affordable, and Reliable LEO Broadband Satellite Services - A development perspective" (co-authored with Prof. Joanna Kulesza) GigaNet Annual Symposium 2022, 28 November 2022.
• "The 5G Rollout Crisis and the Global Governance of Cybersecurity", 10th Annual Cambridge International Law Conference, 18-20 March 2021.
• "The legitimacy of the restrictions on trade in telecommunications hardware and software: An analysis of the implications of invoking the national security exception," the 2020 ASIL IEcLIG Biennial, University of Miami School of Law, 14-15 February 2020.
• "The limits on state autonomy in regulating transborder flows of personal data with respect to its regional and international commitments: A case study of Turkey," Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Seminar, 22 February 2018.
• "Public International Law and Protection of Personal Data," Kadir Has University, Internet and Protection of Personal Data Symposium, 6 December 2016.
• "Legal Systems and Comparative Method," Kadir Has University, Social Sciences Institute, Tuesday Seminars, April 2015.