From analyzing internet company regulations to Iran’s governing structure, the Middle Eastern Pre-Law Student Association’s journal aims to provide a new perspective on Middle Eastern governance.

The MELSA law journal, which was launched in January, reviews and publishes student work to hear Middle Eastern and North African perspectives about law, identity and justice, said George Garzouzi, one of MELSA’s academic directors and the law journal’s editor. The third-year political science student added that he feels the journal highlights Middle Eastern experiences in a field that often overlooks them.

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Reina Simaan, another academic director and journal editor, said each article undergoes an editing process to ensure impartiality. After an editor reviews the first draft, they provide writers with feedback and suggestions, she added.

Then, the editors meet to discuss varying perspectives about each article to ensure fairness in discussing political issues, Simaan added. She said one of the largest challenges the editors face is how to handle issues of controversy while promoting inclusion, understanding and representation.

“At the end, we are writing a journal that is diplomatic, and we aren’t writing a journal that is space for criticism,” said Mark-Anthony Mouawad, the law journal’s editor in chief. “We’re here to inform. We’re here to give a scoop on lawmaking.”

Simaan, a third-year economics student, said she noticed a gap in student-led discussions about legal and social issues in the Middle East. The law journal has created a platform so students of various backgrounds can share their perspectives, she added.

Mouawad, a second-year political science student, said he hopes the journal will offer a fresh and updated perspective on the region.

“I feel like this would kind of be a little wake-up call to the world, where we would be affirming that we are still here and we are still able to make laws, make them successful – make our country come out successful,” he said.

Mouawad, who is Lebanese, said he has watched Lebanon struggle for decades with instability. Now, many people are still unaware of the new government and the changes it has made, he added.

At the end of each month, readers of the journal choose a Middle Eastern country and writers collaborate with the country’s student association to review its lawmaking procedures, according to the MELSA Instagram.

The goal of the process is to introduce new Middle Eastern students to MELSA and give them an insight into publishing legal work, discovering a career in law and connecting with a community of pre-law students, Mouawad said.

“We don’t want to forget that we come from the Middle East,” he added. “This is where most of us were raised within the board, where most of us are tied to. Disregarding it would be backstabbing the whole purpose of the club and the journal itself.”

Despite being a Middle Eastern student association, MELSA welcomes pre-law students of all backgrounds who are interested in gaining publishing and writing experience, Mouawad said.

“I’m a firm believer in community. It’s what makes or breaks a person,” Mouawad said. “I felt the Middle Eastern community just needs another big reinforcement, and I feel this is another step towards it.”