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.
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.
The launch date for the CRT accepting these claims will be determined by the BC government. That date has not yet been announced.
To prepare for this change, 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 protection orders and administrative penalties.
The newly drafted rules are ready to share with you. We’d like your feedback on them.
What are the CRT Rules?
Courts and tribunals usually have rules. The Intimate Image Protection Order Rules are a bit like an instruction guide. They set out a fair, transparent, and consistent process for resolving claims.
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.
If you’re familiar with court rules, you’ll probably find the CRT’s rules to be shorter and simpler. We think long, complicated rules are just too confusing for most people to use. We’re trying to take a ‘less is more’ approach with our rules and focus on the information that will be most useful to people.
How do people use the CRT Rules?
If we’re being totally honest – we hope people using the CRT don’t actually have to look at the Intimate Image Protection Order Rules very often! We try to build processes and guides that speak for themselves, and give you the information you need, when you need it.
Let’s work together on the Intimate Image Protection Order Rules!
We invite you to review the draft Intimate Image Protection Order Rules and send us feedback, in a survey format.
- Take the feedback survey
- Download the draft rules for reference
We’re accepting feedback until December 19, 2023 at 11:59pm PST.
This consultation is part of our commitment to build the CRT around the needs of people who will be using it. Your feedback is much appreciated.
We’ll update the Intimate Image Protection Order Rules based on feedback we get during this consultation. We’ll also update them if the BC government implements any regulations relating to these types of claims. As a result, these rules may be different from the rules that are brought into effect when the CRT starts resolving claims under the Intimate Images Protection Act.
Questions about the draft rules or the feedback survey? Have additional comments?
Please contact us. We’ll forward your questions and feedback to our Rules team.