Procedural justice is regarded as "visible justice", which is actually a legal tradition in Britain and America. This stems from a well-known legal maxim: "Justice should not only be realized, but also be realized in a way that people can see" (Justice? Not only do it, but also let others see it. )。 The so-called "visible justice" essentially refers to the justice of the judgment process (relative to the judgment result) and the justice of the legal procedure (relative to the substantive conclusion).

Procedural justice originates from the ancient principle of "natural justice", which contains the content that the judgment procedure of "one cannot judge a lawsuit about oneself" in ancient Roman law must be fair. However, procedural justice is regarded as a concept of rule of law, which was first called "naturalism" in English common law in 13 and 14 centuries. As a result, procedural justice has achieved unprecedented development in the United States and is called "due process of law".

It violates due process and can be used as the basis of judicial relief. All judicial remedies, including informal procedures such as appeal, second trial, third trial and even habeas corpus, are based on unfair procedures and illegal procedures. The appeal trial in the United States is not a factual trial, but a legal trial. If the defendant is deprived of the right to defense in violation of a fair trial or an open trial, the appointed lawyer will not appoint a lawyer, or he will not withdraw or produce evidence, which will lead to substantive invalidity.