Practice Book - Connecticut Judicial Branch

1 OFFICIAL. 2007. Connecticut Practice book . (Revision of 1998). OFFICIAL. 2007. Connecticut Practice book . (Revision of 1998). CONTAINING. RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT. CODE OF Judicial CONDUCT. RULES FOR THE SUPERIOR COURT. RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE. APPENDIX OF FORMS. Published by The Commission on Official Legal Publications Copyrighted by the Secretary of the State of the State of Connecticut 2007 by the Secretary of the State, State of Connecticut Copyrighted by the Secretary of the State of the State of Connecticut EXPLANATORY NOTES. The Superior Court Rules as organized herein were first published in the Connecticut Law Journal dated July 29, 1997. At that time, many existing and new sections were assigned temporary numbers. In addition, this 2007 edition of the Practice book contains amendments to the Rules of Professional Conduct, the Superior Court Rules and the Rules of Appellate Procedure. The amendments were published in the Connecticut Law Journals dated July 25, 2006, and August 22, 2006.

2 A parenthetical notation about the origin of each rule is found at the end of every section in this volume. The notation ( 1978-1997 Sec. ) indicates the number of the section in the 1978-1997 Practice book corresponding to the current section. Current numbers of any sections corresponding to the sections in the 1978-1997 Practice book appear in the Reference Tables following the text of the rules. The notation (1998) indicates that the section was new in the 1998 Practice book , taking effect October 1, 1997. The temporary numbers assigned to those rules in the Connecticut Law Journal of July 29, 1997, appear in the Reference Tables following the text of the rules. The notation (See 1978-1997 Sec. ) (1998) indicates that the section was modeled on a rule in the 1978-1997 Practice book , but was actually adopted for the first time to take effect October 1, 1997. There may be significant differences between the rules in this volume and those in the 1978-1997 Practice book on which they were modeled.

3 The temporary numbers assigned to those rules in the July 29, 1997 Connecticut Law Journal appear in the Reference Tables following the text of the rules. Where a section was adopted or amended after 1997, a parenthetical notation to that effect appears either immediately following the text of the section, or following the parenthetical notation concerning the derivation of the section. The Table of Practice book Changes following the text of the rules documents the dates on which rules were adopted, repealed or amended. Histories describing the nature of amendments and Commentaries indicating the intended purpose of new rules or amendments to existing rules are printed following the text of new or amended rules. Histories are included for only those rules that were adopted or amended to take effect in the year corresponding to the current edition of the Practice book . For example, Histories corresponding to the rule changes taking effect January 1, 2000, appeared only in the 2000 edition of the Practice book and not in subsequent editions.

4 Users wanting to access the Histories documenting rule changes made in a given year should not discard the corresponding edition. Commentaries to rules or amendments also are to be found only in the edition of the Practice book corresponding to the year of the rule or amendment, with the exception of the Commentaries to the rules on sealing of files and closure of the courtroom, which will be retained on a cumulative basis. The Commentaries were prepared by the drafters of proposed amendments to the rules and are included in this volume for informational purposes only. Commentaries are not adopted by the Judges and Justices when they vote to adopt proposed rule changes. Beginning in 2000, Amendment Notes were incorporated into the Rules of Professional Conduct and the Code of Judicial Conduct. Those notes, approved by the Rules Committee of the Superior Court to explain the revisions to the Rules of Professional Conduct and Code of Judicial Conduct, appear only in the edition of the Practice book corresponding to the year of the revision and not in subsequent editions.

5 Iii Copyrighted by the Secretary of the State of the State of Connecticut The system used to number each section is based on the chapter in which the section is located. Each section has a two-part number. The first part of the number designates the chapter, and the second part designates the number of the section within that chapter. (Chapter 1 begins with 1-1, chapter 2 with 2-1, etc.) The internal breakdown of individual rules follows the style of the General Statutes. Subsections are designated by lower case letters in parenthe- ses, (a), (b), subdivisions are designated by numbers in parentheses, (1), (2), and subpara- graphs are designated by upper case letters in parentheses, (A), (B). The Rules of Appellate Procedure, as well as the Superior Court Rules, were reorganized in 1998. The reorganization of the Rules of Appellate Procedure was completed subsequent to the publication of the July 29, 1997 Connecticut Law Journal and was published in this volume for the first time in 1998.

6 The goal in reorganizing the Rules of Appellate Procedure was to present them in the order in which an appellant might approach the appeal process, , rules on whether to appeal, how to file, what to do next, when argument will take place, opinions and reargument. Rules on various special proceedings were organized into separate chapters. No substantive changes were made in the course of reorganization, but there were editorial changes. In 2002, an Appendix was added following the Index. The Appendix contains certain forms that previously had been in Volume 2 of the 1978-1997 Practice book . Effective January 1, 2003, the rules pertaining to procedure in juvenile matters were amended and reorganized. The amendments initially were published in the Connecticut Law Journal of July 23, 2002. The July 23, 2002 Connecticut Law Journal gave notice that the rules on juvenile matters, which, since 1998, had been found in chapters 26 through 35, had been moved to chapters 26a through 35a.

7 In the Practice book itself, however, the original numbers of the juvenile rules were retained wherever possible. Every year certain nonsubstantive, technical editorial changes are made to a number of the rules. Some, but not all, of these changes are explained in Technical Change notes. iv Copyrighted by the Secretary of the State of the State of Connecticut TABLE OF CONTENTS. Attorney's Oath .. 1. Rules of Professional Conduct Preamble.. 1. Scope .. 3. Rules and Commentaries .. 5. Code of Judicial Conduct.. 64. Superior Court Rules and Rules of Appellate Procedure Chapter and Section Headings of the Rules .. 70. Superior Court General Provisions Chapter 1 Scope of Rules .. 88. Chapter 2 Attorneys.. 94. Chapter 3 Appearances .. 135. Chapter 4 Pleadings .. 140. Chapter 5 Trials .. 142. Chapter 6 Judgments .. 144. Chapter 7 Clerks; Files and Records .. 146. Superior Court Procedure in Civil Matters Chapter 8 Commencement of Action .. 152. Chapter 9 Parties.

8 155. Chapter 10 Pleadings.. 159. Chapter 11 Motions, Requests, Orders of Notice, and Short Calendar .. 171. Chapter 12 Transfer of Actions .. 179. Chapter 13 Discovery and Depositions .. 180. Chapter 14 Dockets, Trial Lists, Pretrials and Assignment Lists .. 195. Chapter 15 Trials in General; Argument by Counsel .. 200. Chapter 16 Jury Trials .. 202. Chapter 17 Judgments .. 208. Chapter 18 Fees and Costs .. 219. Chapter 19 References .. 222. Chapter 20 Hearings in Chambers .. 225. Chapter 21 Receivers.. 226. Chapter 22 Unemployment Compensation .. 230. Chapter 23 Miscellaneous Remedies and Procedures .. 232. Chapter 24 Small Claims .. 243. Superior Court Procedure in Family Matters Chapter 25 General Provisions .. 250. Superior Court Procedure in Juvenile Matters Chapter 26 Definitions .. 266. Chapter 27 Reception and Processing of Nonjudicial Delinquency, Family with Service Needs, or Youth in Crisis Complaints, or Petitions .. 269. Chapter 28 Delinquency and Family with Service Needs Nonjudicial Supervision [Repealed].

9 272. Chapter 29 Reception and Processing of Delinquency, Child from Family with Service Needs and Youth in Crisis Petitions and Delinquency Informations .. 273. Chapter 30 Detention .. 274. Chapter 30a Delinquency, Family with Service Needs and Youth in Crisis Hearings .. 277. v Copyrighted by the Secretary of the State of the State of Connecticut Chapter 31 Delinquency and Family with Service Needs Hearing [Repealed] .. 279. Chapter 31a Delinquency, Family with Service Needs and Youth in Crisis Motions and Applica- tions .. 280. Chapter 32 Neglected, Uncared for and Dependent Children and Termination of Parental Rights [Repealed] .. 284. Chapter 32a Rights of Parties, Neglected, Uncared for and Dependent Children and Termination of Parental Rights .. 285. Chapter 33 Hearings Concerning Neglected, Uncared for and Dependent Children and Termina- tion of Parental Rights [Repealed] .. 287. Chapter 33a Petitions for Neglect, Uncared for, Dependency and Termination of Parental Rights: Initiation of Proceedings, Orders of Temporary Custody and Preliminary Hearings.

10 288. Chapter 34 Rights of Parties [Repealed] .. 291. Chapter 34a Pleadings, Motions and Discovery Neglected, Uncared for and Dependent Children and Termination of Parental Rights .. 292. Chapter 35 General Provisions [Repealed] .. 297. Chapter 35a Hearings Concerning Neglected, Uncared for and Dependent Children and Termina- tion of Parental Rights .. 298. Superior Court Procedure in Criminal Matters Chapter 36 Procedure Prior to Appearance .. 304. Chapter 37 Arraignment .. 308. Chapter 38 Pretrial Release .. 310. Chapter 39 Disposition without Trial.. 317. Chapter 40 Discovery and Depositions .. 321. Chapter 41 Pretrial Motions .. 331. Chapter 42 Trial Procedure .. 335. Chapter 43 Sentencing, Judgment, and Appeal .. 346. Chapter 44 General Provisions .. 354. Rules of Appellate Procedure Chapter 60 General Provisions Relating to Appellate Rules and Appellate Review .. 361. Chapter 61 Remedy by Appeal .. 363. Chapter 62 Chief Judge, Appellate Clerk and Docket: General Administrative Matters.