CLA News / Congratulatory Message for the Madras Law Journal’s 135th Anniversary by CLA President Steven Thiru
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great privilege, on behalf of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (‘CLA’), to extend our warmest congratulations as you celebrate this momentous milestone — the 135th anniversary of the Madras Law Journal.
Since its establishment in 1891, the Madras Law Journal has built an enduring legacy as one of India’s oldest and most authoritative law reports. For generations of students, advocates, and judges, it has been an invaluable compass, pointing the way to legal scholarship and professional excellence.
The enduring importance of publications such as the Madras Law Journal is perhaps best captured by the prescient words of the Supreme Court of India in All India Judges’ Association v. Union of India 1992 AIR 165:
Law books, Law reports and legal journals are indispensable to a judicial officer. They are in fact his tools and in case a junior officer has to discharge his duties satisfactorily he has to get acquainted with these. His ability to perform his duty to a considerable extent depends upon his reading habit and devoting a sizeable working time to reading all this literature.
For 135 years, the Madras Law Journal has served this very purpose. It is an essential staple in legal libraries, equipping practitioners and the Bench with reputable resources that support both rigorous legal research and the administration of justice.
The Madras Law Journal’s distinctive contribution to the legal profession and the judiciary lies in its Editorial Commentary, which has long stood as a dependable reference for both the Bench and the Bar. Rather than merely reporting case law, it provides judges with the insightful analysis needed to interpret statutes, and equips lawyers with the rigorous reasoning required to advocate effectively before the courts. A testament to its practical utility is the judgment of the Madras High Court in Akkammal v. Kullampattiyan alias Velappa Naicken (1956) 2 MLJ 104, where, at paragraph 7 of the judgment, Justice Ramaswami relied on the journal’s Editorial Commentary in analysing section 11 of the Suits Valuation Act 1887.
The abiding value of the Madras Law Journal was also recognised by Chief Justice of India, Justice Surya Kant — then a Judge of the Supreme Court of India — in his address at the inauguration of the e-Library Centre at the Tiruchirappalli Bar Association in August 2025. Reflecting on his own long association with the publication, Justice Surya Kant described the Madras Law Journal as a “vital source of updates in civil law”, while commending its exceptional calibre of legal reporting.
This unwavering commitment to editorial diligence and precision has made the Madras Law Journal a constant daily companion on the desks of lawyers and judges alike. By bridging the gap between legislative text and practical application, it has become a national benchmark in legal publishing, informing legal reasoning across generations of practitioners and making a significant contribution to the development of Indian jurisprudence.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The legal profession continues to evolve rapidly. In the age of artificial intelligence (‘AI’), lawyers and researchers increasingly turn to AI-powered large language models to identify relevant authorities and locate precedents quickly. These tools offer remarkable efficiency, yet they also carry an inherent risk of generating inaccurate or fabricated outputs — a phenomenon commonly referred to as AI hallucination. Recently, the Supreme Court of India highlighted this danger in the case of Pooja Ramesh Singh v. Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd., where an entire tribunal order was set aside because it relied on AI-generated authorities that proved to be completely fictitious.
The lesson for the next generation of lawyers is not to reject AI entirely, but to approach it with discipline and to use it responsibly. Use the technology to conduct preliminary research, but always verify its outputs against trusted, established sources like the Madras Law Journal. Even as technology accelerates at an unprecedented pace, the editorial rigour and integrity of respected legal journals remain irreplaceable.
Upholding high standards of legal education, professional ethics, and the rule of law across the Commonwealth is fundamental to the CLA. As an organisation, we are committed to fostering the development of the common law by helping to ensure that lawyers are equipped with reliable knowledge. In pursuing that mission, strong partnerships are indispensable, and the CLA deeply values its longstanding collaboration with LexisNexis.
Congratulations again to the Madras Law Journal on 135 years of stellar service to the Bench and the Bar. We are confident that the Madras Law Journal will continue to serve the Bench, the Bar, and the wider legal community with distinction for many decades to come.
Thank you.
Steven Thiru
President
Commonwealth Lawyers Association
23 July 2026
