The African Journal of Legal Studies (AJLS) is one of the first initiatives of ALawI.  AJLS is a refereed interdisciplinary journal focusing on human rights, good governance, democracy and rule of law issues in Africa as analyzed by lawyers, including academics and practitioners, economists, political scientists, sociologists and others drawn from throughout the continent and the world. Sponsored and published by ALawI twice yearly, AJLS places equal emphasis on the theoretical and applied aspects of human rights, good governance and rule of law. The inaugural issue of AJLS was launched in spring 2004.

The rationale for the AJLS stems from ALawI's profound belief that academics and rule of law advocates interested in the world's second largest continent should have a forum dedicated solely to the promotion of critical, innovative, and interdisciplinary scholarship on current human rights and governance crises in Africa. 

In launching this journal, ALawI aims to contribute to the literature on African governance by offering an African-led outlet for innovative and critical perspectives on how best to wrestle that continent's multifaced problems.  We further hope that this modest contribution will inspire academics, practitioners, activists and NGOs, both inside and outside Africa, to engage in ongoing debate and reflection on the deconstruction of conventional wisdom, as well as identification of policy-oriented and culturally sensitive solutions for implementation by African policy makers.

ALawI is pleased to make this peer-reviewed journal available free of charge to all researchers.  We note, however, that the journal is also available via subscription with various legal publishers, including HeinOnline, Lexis-Nexis, ProQuest, Westlaw and Quicklaw. Click here to view the latest issue.