The Intimate Images Protection Act (IIPA), passed in March 2023, gives the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) jurisdiction to resolve claims about non-consensual sharing of intimate images or threats to share them.
Under IIPA, the CRT can issue protection orders that require an intimate image be deleted, de-indexed, and/or removed from a website or social media platform. If a person or internet platform doesn’t comply with a protection order, the CRT can order an administrative penalty. Administrative penalties are payable to government. The CRT can also award damages of up to $5,000.
This new jurisdiction will launch on January 29, 2024. To prepare, we’ve created a new set of CRT rules. These rules are called the Intimate Image Protection Order Rules. They will apply to claims for intimate image protection orders and administrative penalties.
We’ve also updated the CRT Rules that apply to all other claim types, and renamed them the Standard Rules. Both new sets of rules come into effect on January 29, 2024.
Our Information Access and Privacy Policy has been updated, too.
What are the CRT Rules?
Courts and tribunals usually have rules. The CRT Rules are a bit like an instruction guide and set out a fair, transparent, and consistent process for resolving claims. The CRT is independent from government and creates its own rules.
The CRT’s mandate requires that it be accessible, speedy, economical, informal, and flexible. Because of that, we want the rules to be as clear and easy to use as possible. We have used feedback from CRT participants and stakeholders to review and update the Rules several times since we started accepting claims in July 2016.
What were the results of the recent CRT Rules public consultation?
In December 2023 we asked for feedback on the proposed Intimate Image Protection Order Rules from the public, stakeholders, and people who work for the CRT. We received a lot of helpful feedback and made further changes in response. For example, we heard that you liked the new style of the rules, and the extra explanatory text. We also heard that some of the rules were too long, and we have tried to shorten them.
The rules are better as a result of your feedback. Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment on the draft rules!
Feedback about the rules?
Please contact us. We’ll forward your feedback to our Rules team.