A judicial officer assists offenders to set rehabilitation goals & strategies (TJ Court Craft Series #8)

The TJ Court Craft Series provides practical insights and tools for judges interested in therapeutic jurisprudence, problem solving or solution-focused approaches.  Read other blog posts in the Court Craft Series here. In this post Michael King, a judicial officer in Victoria Australia and author of the Solution-Focused Bench Book,  shares a tool he uses in court … Continue reading A judicial officer assists offenders to set rehabilitation goals & strategies (TJ Court Craft Series #8)

The Jury finds itself ‘Not Guilty’…

Guest blogger Yael Boneh explores how Therapeutic Jurisprudence thinking can improve the experience of jurors... Therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) proposes that the legal system, judges, court officers, and lawyers constitute social forces that can exacerbate or alleviate potential harms on those coming in contact with the legal system including jurors. Jury trials are based on democratic principles.  However, … Continue reading The Jury finds itself ‘Not Guilty’…

An experienced lawyer talks about how therapeutic jurisprudence improves justice…

Before becoming a professor, Michael Perlin was the Deputy Public Defender in charge of the Mercer County Trial Region in New Jersey, and, for eight years, was the director of the Division of Mental Health Advocacy in the NJ Department of the Public Advocate. Michael has represented thousands of persons with mental disabilities in individual … Continue reading An experienced lawyer talks about how therapeutic jurisprudence improves justice…

Therapy and Justice Belong Together

Guest bloggers Arie Freiberg, Emeritus Professor of Law, Monash University and Dr Becky Batagol, Senior Lecturer in Law, Monash University, Co-Authors of Non-Adversarial Justice, explore the role of therapeutic jurisprudence in the justice system... Last week The Australian newspaper published an opinion piece in which Jennifer Oriel argued that that ‘activist judges’ are usurping the role of parliament in promoting … Continue reading Therapy and Justice Belong Together

Tips for using therapeutic jurisprudence to improve mainstream criminal courts 

Therapeutic Jurisprudence (“TJ”) looks at the law and legal systems as potential therapeutic (or anti-therapeutic) agents for the lives of people and communities. Under TJ, the "law" consists of legal rules and procedures as well as the practices and techniques of legal actors (judges, lawyers, therapists and others) working in a legal environment. In the criminal … Continue reading Tips for using therapeutic jurisprudence to improve mainstream criminal courts