The Singapore Journal of Legal Studies has been in continuous publication since 1959 when it first appeared as the University of Malaya Law Review. Institutional changes made it necessary for the Journal to be re-named twice, first as the Malaya Law Review and then as the Singapore Journal of Legal Studies. Together with its predecessors, the Journal is one of the oldest law journals in the British Commonwealth. As the first and leading law journal in Singapore, it has witnessed the legal, political and social development of Singapore as the country progressed from its establishment in 1965 to the financial and commercial centre it is today.

Singapore’s legal system is founded on the English common law system; so too those of Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam. Singapore’s common law has developed independently while continuing to engage with and draw guidance from other common law jurisdictions, including England, Australia, Canada, Malaysia and occasionally the United States of America. Since its inception, SJLS has traced the development of the common law in Asia, particularly in Singapore which has made distinctive contributions to this system of law.

As a generalist journal, the coverage of SJLS is wide-ranging and extends to domestic and international legal developments with a focus on Singapore, Asia, and the common law world, including private, public, international, and comparative law. The journal features topics with theoretical and practical appeal. The target audience includes lawyers, academics and observers in and outside the common law world. SJLS has been cited by leading common law courts such as the UK Supreme Court (and its predecessor, the House of Lords), the Supreme Court of Canada, the High Court of Australia, the High Court of Malaysia and the Supreme Court of Singapore.

 SJLS is a faculty-managed publication with its Editorial Committee drawn from the Law Faculty of the National University of Singapore (NUS). It has an Advisory Board composed of experts in Singapore and abroad. Submissions are peer-reviewed under conditions of anonymity by subject specialists. The journal also features invited pieces from eminent contributors around the world.

SJLS is published in hard copy and content from September 2023 onwards is also available on an open access basis on this website. In addition, the journal is available electronically through LawNet, WestLaw, HeinOnline, Proquest, HW Wilson, RMIT and SSRN. The Wilson Index to Legal Periodicals and Google Scholar are linked to the SSRN database. The journal may be cited as "Sing JLS".