House Bill No. 5547
               House Bill No. 5547

               PUBLIC ACT NO. 98-20


AN  ACT  CONCERNING THE ACCIDENTAL FAILURE OF SUIT
STATUTE.


    Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and House of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
    Section  1.  Section  52-592  of  the  general
statutes  is  repealed   and   the   following  is
substituted in lieu thereof:
    (a)  If  any action, commenced within the time
limited by law, has failed one or more times to be
tried   on  its  merits  because  of  insufficient
service or return of the writ due  to  unavoidable
accident  or the default or neglect of the officer
to whom it was committed, or  because  the  action
has  been  dismissed  for want of jurisdiction, or
the action has been otherwise avoided or  defeated
by the death of a party or for any matter of form;
or if, in any such action after a verdict for  the
plaintiff,  the judgment has been set aside, or if
a judgment of  nonsuit  has  been  rendered  or  a
judgment   for   the   plaintiff   reversed,   the
plaintiff, or, if the plaintiff is  dead  and  the
action   by   law   survives,   his   executor  or
administrator, may commence a new  action,  except
as provided in subsection (b) of this section, for
the same cause at any time within one  year  after
the  determination of the original action or after
the reversal of the judgment.
    (b)  When  any action has been brought against
an executor or administrator or continued  against
an  executor  or  administrator after the death of
the defendant and has failed for any of the causes
listed  in  subsection  (a)  of  this section, the
plaintiff, or his  executor  or  administrator  in
case  a  cause  of action survives, may commence a
new   action   within   six   months   after   the
determination of the original action.
    (c)   If  an  appeal  is  had  from  any  such
judgment to the Supreme Court or Appellate  Court,
the  time the case is pending upon appeal shall be
excluded in computing the time as above limited.
    (d)  The  provisions  of  this  section  shall
apply to any defendant who files a cross complaint
in  any action, and to any action between the same
parties or the legal representatives of either  of
them  for  the  same cause of action or subject of
action brought to any court in this state,  either
before  dismissal  of  the original action and its
affirmance or within one year after the  dismissal
and  affirmance,  and to any action brought to the
United States circuit or district  court  for  the
district  of  Connecticut which has been dismissed
without trial upon its merits or because  of  lack
of  jurisdiction  in such court. If such action is
within the jurisdiction of any  state  court,  the
time  for  bringing  the action to the state court
shall commence from the date of dismissal  in  the
United  States  court, or, if an appeal or writ of
error has been taken from the dismissal, from  the
final  determination  of  the  appeal  or  writ of
error.
    (e)  THE  PROVISIONS  OF  THIS  SECTION  SHALL
APPLY TO ANY CLAIM AGAINST THE STATE FOR  WHICH  A
NOTICE OF CLAIM HAS BEEN PROPERLY AND TIMELY FILED
WITH  THE  CLERK  OF  THE  OFFICE  OF  THE  CLAIMS
COMMISSIONER IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTIONS 4-147 AND
4-148 AND WHICH THEREAFTER HAS BEEN  DISMISSED  BY
THE CLAIMS COMMISSIONER PURSUANT TO SECTION 4-142.
    Sec. 2. This  act  shall  take effect from its
passage.

Approved April 24, 1998