General Assembly Raised Bill No. 930
January Session, 2013 LCO No. 3081
*03081_______VA_*
Referred to Committee on VETERANS' AFFAIRS
Introduced by:
(VA)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 930
January Session, 2013
LCO No. 3081
*03081_______VA_*
Referred to Committee on VETERANS' AFFAIRS
Introduced by:
(VA)
AN ACT CONCERNING SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RELIEF ACT PROCEEDINGS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2013) (a) In a family relations matter, as defined in section 46b-1 of the general statutes, any member of the armed forces, as defined in section 27-103 of the general statutes, who is entitled to a stay of proceedings pursuant to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 USC App. 501 et seq., as amended from time to time, may, subject to the approval of the court under subsection (b) of this section, elect to proceed with such matter while such member is unavailable to appear in the location in which the family relations matter is brought. Any such member who elects to proceed with such matter may seek relief and provide testimony through videoconferencing, or, if the court determines that videoconferencing is impracticable due to such member's military service or the inability of the court to accommodate videoconferencing, through Internet camera, telephone or other reasonable electronic means. Such testimony shall be (1) provided under oath, (2) in a manner observable by or, in the case of testimony provided by telephone, audible to all parties, and (3) recorded by a qualified court reporter. In any family relations matter where a party who is physically present in the state is permitted to use affidavits to seek temporary relief, such member may submit testimony by affidavit.
(b) The court shall permit such member of the armed forces to proceed with such a family relations matter in the manner described in subsection (a) of this section unless, for good cause shown, the opposing party in such matter establishes that the use of the electronic means of presenting testimony would substantially prejudice such party.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2013 New section
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
July 1, 2013
New section
Statement of Purpose:
To provide that a member of the armed forces who is entitled to a stay of proceedings in a family relations matter pursuant to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act may seek relief and provide testimony by electronic means under certain conditions.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]