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Simmi Sandhu steps down as British Columbia’s CRT chair
Till a new chair is appointed vice chair of the civil resolution tribunal, Shelley Lopez, will be the acting chair.
Simmi Sandhu / Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals
Simmi K. Sandhu, chair of the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT), stepped down from her role on December 21, 2023. The CRT is Canada’s first online tribunal which offers people an accessible, affordable way to resolve disputes without attending court.
Sandhu held the position for one and a half years after being appointed in June 2022 following a merit-based competition. Shelley Lopez, current vice-chair, will be the acting chair of the CRT until the next chair is appointed after a merit-based competition.
With Sandhu as chair, the CRT made significant headway in “promoting accessibility, equity, and efficiency” within the justice system. “Her work focused on serving marginalized clients and prioritizing culturally appropriate justice services for Indigenous people, including the hiring of navigators for Indigenous parties,” a news release said.
Sandhu promoted the creation of a community advisory council comprised of Indigenous lawyers and educators to review the CRT’s processes, identify barriers, and provide recommendations to address those barriers. Under her guidance, 12 informational videos on the CRT were translated to Cantonese, Madarin, Punjabi, and Tagalog, to benefit the people who did not speak English or French as their first or second languages.
Sandhu also ensured that the CRT developed accessible, victim-centered, and trauma-informed processes under the new Intimate Images Protection Act (IIPA). Under the IIPA, the CRT can issue protection orders that require an intimate image to be deleted, de-indexed, and/or removed from a website or social media platform.
Sandhu will continue working as president and judge of the United Nations Appeal Tribunal. She was appointed for the role by the General Assembly of the UN in 2018. Prior to her role as CRT chair, Sandhu had served as the chair of the Property Assessment Appeal Board (PAAB) for seven years.
She has also been the president and director of the British Columbia Council of Administrative Tribunals (BCCAT). In 2014, the BCCAT awarded Sandhu with the Award for Exceptional Service to the Administrative Justice Community.
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