Jordan rule

Meaning

Noun

• A rule about how long criminal court cases can take, and when exceeding the determined limit, is considered excessive and violating constitutional rights, and thus the criminal proceedings are summarily terminated with no recourse, and the defendant released. The limit of 18 or 30 months from placing criminal charges to trial is established in the rule.

Origin

• From the defendant, Barrett Richard Jordan, in the Canadian criminal court case, known as R v Jordan (2016), whose resolution, the ruling decision, that established the rule.