The political thought of Giorgio Agamben, the contemporary Italian philosopher, offers a fundamental reflection on the key concepts of sovereignty, the state of exception, and biopolitics, which hold great significance in analyzing the relationships among law, politics, and the body. Drawing inspiration from the prominent theories of thinkers such as Carl Schmitt and Michel Foucault, Agamben demonstrates how modern states, by creating and normalizing states of exception, facilitate the suspension of law under emergency conditions. Consequently, human beings are reduced from citizens endowed with political rights to what he terms “bare life”—a condition in which individuals are deprived of legal and political protections and subjected to the arbitrary control and domination of sovereign power. This leads to a complex blurring of the boundary between law and lawlessness within the political and legal order, allowing sovereign power to exercise unrestrained authority over the lives and rights of citizens without legal limitations. This article aims to precisely examine and explicate the key concepts in Agamben’s theoretical framework and analyze their manifestations within public legal systems. A critical dimension of this analysis is the concept of “bare life,” which philosophically represents the human being excluded politically and legally from the sphere of protection under modern legal systems. The legal and political implications of this concept include the examination of states of exception that governments officially or unofficially declare, thereby restricting or suspending individual rights. Furthermore, the article explores the role of biopolitics—that is, the process by which human biological life becomes a central target of power investment and political control. This study seeks to demonstrate how Agamben’s notions such as “state of exception” and “bare life” can be interpreted and elucidated within the frameworks of legal and political institutions, as well as how these concepts become apparent in phenomena like citizenship rights, political crises, and emergency restrictions. Case analyses of contemporary events gain significant importance within this conceptual framework. Additionally, the critical role of camps and exceptional spaces is emphasized as tangible examples where bare life is actualized and complete domination over bodies is exerted.

Ultimately, by utilizing Agamben’s theoretical framework, this article provides a perspective for a better understanding of the complex relationship among politics, law, and the body in contemporary legal and political systems, as well as how these theories emerge and manifest within the realities of public law.