Connecticut § 52-410 - Application for court order to proceed with arbitration.

§ 52-410. Application for court order to proceed with arbitration.

Sec. 52-410. Application for court order to proceed with arbitration. (a) A party to a written agreement for arbitration claiming the neglect or refusal of another to proceed with an arbitration thereunder may make application to the superior court for the judicial district in which one of the parties resides or, in a controversy concerning land, for the judicial district in which the land is situated or, when the court is not in session, to any judge thereof, for an order directing the parties to proceed with the arbitration in compliance with their agreement. The application shall be by writ of summons and complaint, served in the manner provided by law.

(b) The complaint may be in the following form: “1. On ...., 20.., the plaintiff and the defendant entered into a written agreement for arbitration, of which exhibit A, hereto attached, is a copy. 2. The defendant has neglected and refused to perform the agreement for arbitration, although the plaintiff is ready and willing to perform the agreement. The plaintiff claims an order directing the defendant to proceed with an arbitration in compliance therewith.”

(c) The parties shall be considered as at issue on the allegations of the complaint unless the defendant files answer thereto within five days from the return day, and the court or judge shall hear the matter either at a short calendar session, or as a privileged case, or otherwise, in order to dispose of the case with the least possible delay, and shall either grant the order or deny the application, according to the rights of the parties.

(1949 Rev., S. 8153; P.A. 78-280, S. 2, 127; P.A. 82-160, S. 150.)

History: P.A. 78-280 substituted “judicial district” for “county”; P.A. 82-160 rephrased the section and inserted Subsec. indicators; (Revisor's note: In 2001 the reference in Subsec. (b) of this section to the date “19..” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “20..” to reflect the new millennium).

Where parties to arbitration agreement confide to arbitrators the decision of legal and factual disputes, arbitrators have authority to interpret the agreement. 137 C. 305. Not mandatory; may still present case to arbitrators. 138 C. 57. Order directing defendant to proceed with arbitration pursuant to written agreement is a final judgment. 139 C. 512. Cited. 140 C. 446; 144 C. 303; 147 C. 139. Whether a dispute is an arbitrable one is a legal question for the court rather than for arbitrators, in the absence of a provision in the agreement giving arbitrators such jurisdiction. 148 C. 192. Cited. Id., 696. Under law as laid down by U.S. Supreme Court, dispute is arbitrable unless it may be said with positive assurance that arbitration clause is not susceptible of interpretation covering dispute; doubts should be resolved in favor of coverage. Id., 708. Cited. 149 C. 154; 155 C. 271. To obtain order to compel arbitration under insurance policy provisions, plaintiffs must first establish policy coverage; questions relating to coverage and arbitrability can be adjudicated at same time. Id., 622. Where defendant failed to proceed under section, equitable doctrine of laches was not available to it to defeat plaintiff's cause of action. 158 C. 467. Cited. 163 C. 327. Order directing arbitration pursuant to insurance contract provision reversed as lower court's finding that plaintiff was a resident of the same household as the insured was not supported by the evidence. 167 C. 450. Statute provides a remedy for an insured aggrieved by the unreasonable refusal of an insurer to proceed with an appraisal procedure. 177 C. 273. Cited. 181 C. 37; Id., 47; Id., 445; 183 C. 481; 191 C. 316. Individual employees may be “parties” to a collective bargaining agreement for purposes of statute if the collective bargaining agreement so provides. 200 C. 51. Cited. Id., 91; Id., 376; 208 C. 352; 215 C. 604; 219 C. 391; 223 C. 761; 226 C. 704; Id., 907; 228 C. 436. Although party seeking to compel arbitration has filed motion to stay legal proceedings in court in which such proceedings are pending, party must still institute an entirely distinct legal action, by separate writ of summons and complaint, in order to obtain order directing opposing party to proceed with arbitration. 244 C. 732. When sole proprietorship becomes a limited liability company, all interests and liabilities of the sole proprietorship are transferred to such company. 249 C. 415.

Cited. 1 CA 253. Truncated pleading procedures and time tables of statute do not violate constitutional principle of separation of powers. 4 CA 339. Cited. 5 CA 333; Id., 517; 16 CA 209; 19 CA 235; 28 CA 139; 30 CA 803; 32 CA 190; 33 CA 152; 34 CA 11; 36 CA 839; 38 CA 555; 39 CA 429; 40 CA 294. Selection of Connecticut as arbitral forum is sufficient to confer on a Connecticut court personal jurisdiction over a party to the arbitration agreement. 72 CA 310. When confronted with an application under Subsec. (a), court's task is to determine whether the parties did, in fact, enter into an agreement and whether the agreement provides for arbitration. 81 CA 755. Application to compel arbitration under section is a civil action for purposes of dismissal under Practice Book Sec. 14-3. 153 CA 716.

Motion to confirm or vacate is not a new action but a stage in one already pending. 15 CS 118. Cited. Id., 480. Difference may be arbitrated only if subject matter is covered by the agreement. 16 CS 360. Mere assertion of invalidity of contract not sufficient to oust board of arbitration. 17 CS 14. Application for a court order to compel other party to an arbitration agreement to proceed must be by summons and complaint. 20 CS 46. Cited. Id., 95. Demurrer is a sufficient “answer” to application, as required by section; held that each employee is an unnamed principal under a labor contract but if, by virtue of a particular contract, only the company or union can apply to the court for an order to proceed with arbitration, then an individual employee is precluded from doing so. Id., 413. Demurrer to complaint sustained on the grounds that plaintiffs, ex-employees, had no right to arbitration as the collective bargaining agreement reserved this right to the company or the union and neither had conferred it on plaintiffs. 21 CS 98. Method used by court to determine whether a dispute falls within the terms of an arbitration agreement. Id., 175. Cited. 41 CS 302.