It was once debated whether or not the IIUM Law Majalla was truly the first student-run law journal in Malaysia before it was republished in 2002 after a long hiatus. Fortunately, the collection of the previous editions were well kept, allowing us to track down the first edition of the Law Majalla in 1985 and prove the claim. We would like to thank the IIUM library for their assistance in locating the first edition of the Law Majalla in Professor Ahmad Ibrahim’s Collection.
Among the articles featured in the first edition of Law Majalla was an article entitled ‘Islam and Law’ written by the honourable Professor Datuk Dr. Ahmad Ibrahim, the founding father of AIKOL. Another featured article worth noting is ‘An Enquiry Into The Concept of Constitutional Supremacy and The Amendability of Our Constitution’ which was written by Mr Koo Chin Nam in his second year, making it the first student article published in Law Majalla. It is clear from the many featured articles how the Law Majalla has always placed an emphasis on the development of legal writing, particularly with regard to Islamic law.
At the time of the first publication in 1985, the Law Majalla was published by the IIUM Law Students’ Society. Since then, Law Majalla has developed into an independent body with the mission of continuing the publication of the journal. Throughout the years, the publication of the journal has continued to foster a culture that encourages AIKOL students to take part in legal writing.
The journal underwent a hiatus after 2002 due to lack of financial support and technical difficulties such as insufficient number of members and limited technology, where the student members had to conduct extensive research without the miraculous help of the Internet. By the grace of Allah, the journal was revived in 2018, with efforts led by Mr Ahmed Naufal.
By continuing this work, we hope to honour AIKOL’s and Law Majalla’s history, as well as Professor Datuk Dr. Ahmad Ibrahim’s legacy of legal scholarship.