Journal of Turkish Legal History was established with the aim of continuing the scholarly legacy initiated by Fuad Köprülü, who published two issues of Türk Hukuk ve İktisat Tarihi Mecmuası (Journal of Turkish Legal and Economic History) in Istanbul in 1931 and 1938, and subsequently a single issue of Türk Hukuk Tarihi Dergisi (Journal of Turkish Legal History) under the auspices of the Turkish Law Society in Ankara in 1944 before the project was discontinued.

The journal was founded in 2006 by members of the Department of Legal History at Marmara University Faculty of Law. Its founding Editorial Board included M. Akif Aydın, Fethi Gedikli, Mehmet Akman, Ekrem Buğra Ekinci, Mustafa Şentop, Macit Kenanoğlu, and Mürteza Bedir. Beginning with Issue No. 13, the journal has continued its academic publication under the administration of the Sadri Maksudi Arsal Center for Legal History Research and Practice at Istanbul University, carrying forward a distinguished scholarly tradition.

Journal of Turkish Legal History is a peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to promoting high-quality scholarly research at both the national and international levels by combining the established tradition of legal history scholarship with the principles of contemporary academic publishing. The journal is committed to scientific impartiality, academic integrity, double-anonymized peer review, and the principles of open science, and serves as a reliable and respected forum for research in the field of legal history.