Chapter 9 - § 9.1 • INTRODUCTION

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 9.1 • INTRODUCTION

As discussed earlier, the primary reason for the adoption of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) was to enforce agreements to arbitrate, which at common law were often held void and unenforceable. While Colorado courts enforced agreements to arbitrate prior to the adoption of the Colorado Uniform Arbitration Act (CUAA) in 1975, the CUAA provided a statutory basis and procedure for enforcement.

This chapter deals with enforcement of arbitration agreements — motions to compel arbitration and stay litigation, as well as motions to stay arbitration. These motions bring the arbitrability issues to the forefront: the party opposing arbitration asserts an arbitrability issue as a defense to arbitration. Today, these motions are largely statutory procedures.

The issues are raised in two primary contexts. First, a civil action is commenced, and the...