The National Conference of the Indonesian Law Students Association (ISMAHI) in Ujung Pandang in September 1987 resulted in a proposal to establish cooperation with other law schools in Asia. Representatives from Padjajaran University, Gadjah Mada University, Airlangga University, Brawijaya University and the University of Indonesia participated in this first discussion.

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This idea was continued at the ISMAHI National Working Draft Session in Denpasar in 1988 and materialized with the holding of the ASEAN Law Students Conference (ALSC) in Jakarta on 15-20 May 1989 with the support of the ASEAN Secretariat and the ASEAN Law Association. The conference was attended by delegates from law schools in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. At the end of the conference, all delegates agreed to form the ASEAN Law Students’ Association.

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Outside ASEAN, some Asian countries have also begun to establish national law student organizations, such as the Law Association at the University of Hong Kong (LA-HKUSU), which has existed since 1969. Inspired by the European Law Students’ Association in continental Europe, law students in Japan founded the Asian Law Students’ Association in 1996. ALSA Japan was followed by the creation of ALSA Korea in 1998 by students of the law faculties of Seoul National University and Ewha Womans University, and later by ALSA Taiwan and China.

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The idea of a merger between ALSA and the ASEAN Law Students’ Association was pioneered by the Seoul Declaration in Seoul, South Korea in 2001. On September 7, 2002 in Tokyo, Japan, the two organizations agreed to merge into the Asian Law Students’ Association.