İlhan Helvacı graduated from Galatasaray High School in 1983 and completed his undergraduate studies at the Istanbul University Law School in 1987. He completed his graduate studies in the Private Law Department at the Istanbul University Institute of Social Sciences in 1989. The same year, he began working as a faculty member in the Civil Law Department at the Istanbul University Law School.
He started his PhD. studies in 1990 under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Kemal Oğuzman in the Private Law Department at the Istanbul University Institute of Social Sciences, and was later awarded a ten-month research scholarship by the Swiss Government, consequently he continued his doctoral dissertation under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Denis Piotet at the Lausanne University Law School and L’Institut Suisse de Droit Comparé (The Institute of Swiss Comparative Law). İlhan Helvacı was awarded his PhD in “Private Law” in 1997, and he conducted research in Germany in the field of comparative law in 2001 after receiving a research scholarship from the Hamburg Max Planck Institut für internationales und ausländisches Privatrecht. In 2002, he gained the title of "Associate Professor in the field of Law (Civil Law)".
Assoc. Prof. Dr. İlhan Helvacı was appointed as a professor in the field of Civil Law at the Istanbul University Law School in 2008.
Prof. Dr. İlhan Helvacı was a visiting faculty member at the Koç University Law School between 2004 and 2010 where he taught the core courses of Family Law and Property Law, as well as the electives Atypical Contracts and Law of Guarantees, and at the Galatasaray University Institute of Social Sciences between 2005 and 2006 teaching Contracts and Guarantees on Bank Loans.
İlhan Helvacı is a civil law professor and attorney, who serves as a faculty member (chairman) in the Civil Law Department at the Istanbul University Law Faculty. Prof. Dr. İlhan Helvacı teaches the following undergraduate courses at the Istanbul University Law School: Introduction to Civil Law, Real Persons - Legal Entities (Associations and Foundations), Family Law, Law of Obligations (General Provisions), Law of Obligations (Special Provisions - Contract Types), Property Law (Movable and Immovable Property Law), Inheritance Law and Law of Guarantees.
Prof. Dr. İlhan Helvacı teaches the following graduate and post-graduate courses at the Istanbul University School of Social Sciences: Contracts Not Regulated Under the Law of Obligations (Atypical), Contracts (Franchise, Leasing, Factoring, Know-How, Exclusive Distributorship, Distributorship, Management, etc.) and Law of Guarantees (Contracts of Surety And Guarantees, Bank Letters of Guarantee, Movable Property Liens, Real Estate Mortgage, Right - Brand - Patent - Stock Liens and Liens on Receivables).
Prof. Dr. İlhan Helvacı has been visiting scholar throughout three terms in 2016-2017 academic years at University of Oxford, Faculty of Law. In the course of his activities as a visiting scholar, Prof. Dr. İlhan Helvacı attended certain studies within “Obligation Discussion Group” and “Comparative Law Discussion Group”; also he gave a seminar under the title of “Acknowledgement of Debt in Turco-Swiss Law Obligations” at the consecutive conferences which have been held jointly by these two groups within “Institute of European Comparative Law”.
He speaks French, English and German, and conducts research in virtually all fields of Civil Law. Some of the books and works authored by Prof. Dr. İlhan Helvacı are detailed below:
1. Liability For Environmental Pollution Damages, Istanbul, 1989 (VIII+106 p.).
2. Lex Commissoria Prohibition According to Turkish Civil Code, Istanbul, 1997 (XXXI+158 p.).
3. Disclaim of Inheritance According to Turkish Civil Code Compared to the Former Civil Code, Istanbul, 2002 (XXIV+256 p.).
4. Contractual Mortgage According to Turkish Civil Code Compared to the Former Civil Code, Istanbul, 2008 (XLVII+423 p.).
5. Legal Opinions on the Law of Obligations (Particularly Contractual Disputes), Law of Inheritance and Law of Property (2000-2010), Istanbul, 2010 (XXIV+728 p.).
6. The New Turkish Code of Obligations with Reasons, Comparisons, Legal Precedents and Annotations, and the Law Regarding Enforcement and Application of the Turkish Code of Obligations, Istanbul, 2011 (XV+1392 s).
7. Turkish Civil Code with Reasons, Comparisons, Legal Precedents and Annotations, Volume I, Law of Persons, Istanbul, 2013 (XV+342 p.).
8. Turkish Civil Code with Reasons, Comparisons, Legal Precedents and Annotations, Volume II, Family Law, Istanbul, 2013 (XV+784 p.).
9. Turkish Civil Code with Reasons, Comparisons, Legal Precedents and Notes, Volume III, Law of Inheritance, Istanbul, 2013 (XV+400 p.).
10. Turkish Civil Code with Reasons, Comparisons, Legal Precedents and Annotations, Volume IV, Law of Property, Istanbul, 2013 (XV+947 p.).
11. Turkish Civil Code and Turkish Code of Obligations – Enforcement Laws with Annotations, Istanbul, 2015, Filiz Kitabevi, ISBN: 978-975-368-396-8, (VIII + 700 p.).
12. Legal Opinions on the Law of Obligations (Particularly Contractual Disputes), Law of Inheritance, Law of Property and Law of Persons (Associations and Foundations) (2010-2015), Istanbul, 2017 (XX+853 p.).
13. Bibliography on Civil Law and Law of Obligations (Introduction to Civil Law, Law of Persons, Family Law, Law of Inheritance, Law of Property, Law of Obligations, Comparative Law, Urban Renewal Law, Consumer Law, Enforcement Law) , (with Res. Asst. Efe Can Yıldırır), Istanbul, 2017, On İki Levha Yayıncılık, 978-605-152-495-5 (XX+680 p.).
14. Turkish Contract Law, Springer International Publishing AG, 2017 (XX+312 s. ).
15. Le droit turc du contrat, Schulthess Éditions Romandes, Zürich, 2018, (XIV+323 s.) ISBN 978-3-7255-9093-3.
16. Turkish Civil Code and Turkish Code of Obligations, Enforcement Laws with Annotations, Revised and Extended 2nd Edition, Istanbul, 2018 (VIII+778 p.)
17. Turkish Civil Code and Turkish Code of Obligations, Enforcement Laws with Annotations, 294 Decisions to Unify the Jurisprudence of Court of Cassation (1926-2019), 3rd Revised and Extended Edition, Istanbul, 2020 (XII+784 p.)
18. Civil Law and Law of Obligations Terms and Usage Examples in Turkish - French - German - English, Istanbul, 2020 (XX+452 p.)
19. Turkish Civil Code and Turkish Code of Obligations, Enforcement Laws with Annotations, 295 Decisions to Unify the Jurisprudence of Court of Cassation (1926-2020), 4th Revised and Extended Edition, Istanbul, 2020 (XII+792 p.)
20. Civil Law and Law of Obligations Terms and Usage Examples in Turkish - French - German - English, 2nd Revised Edition, Istanbul, 2021 (XX+452 p.).
21. Legal Opinions on the Law of Obligations (Particularly Contractual Disputes), Law of Inheritance and Law of Property (2015-2020), Istanbul, 2021 (XVIII+822 p.).
Prof. Dr. İlhan Helvacı has written several Turkish, French and English articles and presented various papers on civil law which have been published in refereed and non-refereed national and international journals. Prof. Dr. İlhan Helvacı’s research and publications have been referenced in nearly 80 textbooks, monographs and articles.
Prof. Dr. İlhan Helvacı was a member of the Professional Football Discipline Committee and the Legal Board between 2004 and 2008, and held the position of General Counsel at the Turkish Football Federation between February 2009 and March 2012. Atty. Prof. Dr. İlhan Helvacı continued his activities in Sports Law between 2011 and 2013 as a Disciplinary Inspector at UEFA.
He has provided legal training on loan contracts and guarantees for several banks since 1997, and he continues these training activities for banks including HSBC Bank A.Ş., Türkiye Garanti Bankası A.Ş., and ING Bank A.Ş.
Prof. Dr. İlhan Helvacı has served as an arbitrator both within the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and in private cases relating to disputes in his areas of specialization, particularly contractual disputes. He is a member of Istanbul Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Center (ITOTAM) and currently serves as vice chairman in the arbitration court.
Prof. Dr. İlhan Helvacı has been an attorney in the Istanbul Bar Association since 1991. He provides legal representation and consultancy services related to his areas of specialization and is the founder and director of Atty. Prof. Dr. İlhan Helvacı Law Office.