This paper provides a theoretical rationale for using the constructs of procedural justice, trust and self-determination as a framework to guide the evidence-based practice of therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ). The overarching purpose of TJ is to provide therapeutic outcomes to all participants in the legal system. This paper proposes that in legal decision-making, running a procedurally just process that generates trust amongst participants and allows the parties to experience self-determination, creates a dynamic akin to the therapeutic alliance, which, in therapy, is a reliable predictor of therapeutic outcomes. The paper argues that when a legal therapeutic alliance forms in a legal decision-making process then positive therapeutic outcomes are possible, and the process can be classified as one that accords with the philosophy of TJ. A subsequent argument is that a therapeutic court can be defined as one that enacts such a process. The paper concludes by explaining how the framework can provide both a guide to courts in designing TJ processes and an assessment framework to analyse legal decision-making processes for their therapeutic value.

本文为使用程序正义、信任和自决的结构作为框架来指导治疗法学（TJ）的循证实践提供了理论依据。TJ 的首要目的是为法律系统的所有参与者提供治疗结果。本文提出，在法律决策中，运行一个程序公正的过程，在参与者之间产生信任，并允许各方体验自我决定，创建一个类似于治疗联盟的动态，在治疗中，它是治疗效果的可靠预测因素。结果。本文认为，当法律决策过程中形成法律治疗联盟时，积极的治疗结果是可能的，并且该过程可以归类为符合 TJ 哲学的过程。随后的一个论点是，治疗法庭可以被定义为制定这一程序的法庭。本文最后解释了该框架如何为法院设计 TJ 程序提供指南，并为分析法律决策过程的治疗价值提供评估框架。