"Jordan rule" means: A rule regarding the length of a criminal court case, usually limited to eighteen or thirty months from filing charges to trial.. This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
Jordan rule
(Canada, crime, law, politics, constitution, human rights) A rule regarding the length of a criminal court case, usually limited to eighteen or thirty months from filing charges to trial.
Definitions
#1·Apr 27, 2026
(Canada, crime, law, politics, constitution, human rights) A rule regarding the length of a criminal court case, usually limited to eighteen or thirty months from filing charges to trial.
Origin: From the defendant, Barrett Richard Jordan, in the Canadian criminal court case, known as R v Jordan, whose resolution, the ruling decision, that established the rule. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
For parents
"Jordan rule" means: A rule regarding the length of a criminal court case, usually limited to eighteen or thirty months from filing charges to trial.. This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
For ESL learners
"Jordan rule" means: A rule regarding the length of a criminal court case, usually limited to eighteen or thirty months from filing charges to trial.. Register: neutral, standard English, usable in most everyday contexts. A common non-native mistake is to use the word in the wrong register, or to assume one fixed meaning when it is actually polysemous; always check the surrounding register and the audience before producing it yourself. In formal writing, prefer a neutral synonym or a short descriptive phrase, and use this word only when you have heard or read it being used naturally in a comparable context.
Cluster: criminal
Was this helpful?
Comments
For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
Have a better definition?
Add your own interpretation of "Jordan rule".
🗺️About Regional & Other slang
Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.
Tags
Other words near "Jordan rule" (J)
Browse all slang words starting with J.
Related terms
People also read
Semantically related
- Jordan's Principle60%
(Canada, law) The principle that the government or department that first receives a request to pay for a service for a First Nations child must pay for the service and resolve jurisdictional issues only thereafter.
- golden rule53%
(legal, E&W, idiomatic) A method of statutory interpretation, whereby a judge will deviate from a literal interpretation of the law to the extent necessary to circumvent obvious absurdities or (sometimes) conclusions repugnant to public policy.
- illegal53%
Forbidden by established rules.
- examining justice52%
(Britain, Wales, law) A judge deciding whether there is enough evidence for a case to be brought before the Crown Court.
- conditional sentence52%
(legal, Canada) probation.