Prof. Dr. Osman Can
Professor of Constitutional Law | Strategic Consultant
Prof. Dr. Osman Can is an international legal scholar with profound theoretical depth and top-tier judicial practice in constitutional law and state architecture. He approaches the law not merely as a normative text, but as a mechanism of checks and balances functioning upon the de facto power dynamics of the legislative and executive branches, as well as political and economic rationality. In his institutional analyses, rather than viewing the judiciary as an isolated apparatus, he centers on the structural reality that takes into account intra-party democracy, electoral law, and the concentration of executive power within the state.
Lecturing on constitutional law and the Turkish constitutional system at Marmara University and Goethe University Frankfurt, Prof. Dr. Can is constructing a dynamic foundation that takes constitutional architecture out of a purely legal framework and reads it through the psychodynamics, foundational traumas, and anthropological foundations of society in his upcoming comprehensive magnum opus, Constitution of the Republic of Turkey.
Global Risks, Institutional Decay, and Rational Strategy In the face of profound political anxieties, economic uncertainties, and threats of institutional decay experienced globally and regionally, he provides macro-level strategic analyses. He constructs pathways out of existential regulatory crises faced by national and international actors, macro-scale commercial structures, and public institutions by reading them through the dynamics of the negative social contract and political rationality. He frames the law not as a static barrier in times of crisis, but as a secure and solution-oriented mechanism that balances disputes at the intersection of the state apparatus, economic prosperity, and colossal risks.
Crisis Management and Jurisprudential Architecture in Public Law Alongside his academic vision, he served as a Rapporteur-Judge at the Constitutional Court of Turkey (AYM) during the country’s most politically and legally turbulent periods, generating visionary solutions in critical disputes where the system was deadlocked:
- Protection of Democratic Politics: By elevating political party closure cases beyond mere norm application and placing them on an axis of political science, sociological reality, and democratic necessity, his approach guided the Court’s final decisions and jurisprudence.
- Social Rights and Rationalization: With his vision presented on trade union rights and strikes, he broadened the scope of protection for these rights while simultaneously enabling a rationalizing and sustainable legal framework.
- Economic Regulation and Privatization: Through the legal framework he prepared during the privatization process of Turkish Telekom and ports, he facilitated the overcoming of deadlocked processes and the establishment of economic equilibrium.
International Impact and Authority Having played an active role as a Member of Parliament in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and in constitution-building processes, he provided strategic support as an international analyst and rapporteur in constitutional and institutional transformation processes in various countries in his capacity as a Member of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe (2014-2018) and Vice-President of its Scientific Advisory Board. He has conducted research at prestigious institutions such as the Max Planck Institute for European Legal History (Frankfurt) and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (Washington D.C.). He has numerous published academic works and articles on public law, constitutional jurisdiction, and dispute resolution in German, English, and Turkish.