(a) Assignment. No referee shall be assigned to serve in any proceeding who (1) has any pecuniary interest in any matter or business involved in the proceeding, (2) is related within the third degree by blood or marriage to any party to the proceeding, or (3) has participated in the investigation preceding the institution of the proceeding or in the determination that it should be instituted or in the preparation of the complaint or in the development of the evidence to be introduced therein.

Any

(b) Disqualification of referee. party may file with the hearing clerk a timely affidavit of disqualification of the referee which shall set forth with particularity the grounds of alleged disqualification. After such investigation or hearing as the Commission may deem necessary, it may find the affidavit without merit or may direct that another referee be assigned to the proceeding. Where the affidavit is found without merit, the affidavit, any record made thereon, and the finding and order of the Commission shall be made a part of the record.

A referee shall ask to be withdrawn from any proceeding in which he deems himself disqualified for any reason.

(c) Conduct. The referee shall conduct the proceeding in a fair and impartial manner and, save to the extent required for the disposition of ex parte matters as authorized by law, he shall not consult any person or party on any fact in issue unless upon notice and opportunity for all parties to participate.

(d) Powers of referee. Subject to review by the Commission as provided elsewhere in this subpart, the referee, in any proceeding assigned to him, shall have power to:

(1) Rule upon motions and requests; (2) Set the time and place of hearing, adjourn the hearing from time to time, and change the time and place of hearing;

(3) Administer oaths and affirmations and take affidavits;

(4) Issue subpenas requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of books, records, contracts, papers, and other documentary evidence;

(5) Summon and examine witnesses and receive evidence;

(6) Take or order the taking of depositions;

(7) Admit or exclude evidence;

(8) Hear oral argument on facts or law;

(9) Do all acts and take all measures necessary for the maintenance of order and efficient conduct of the proceeding.

(e) Who may act in the absence of the referee. In case of the absence of the referee, or his inability to act, the powers and duties to be performed by him under these rules of practice in connection with a proceeding assigned to him may, without abatement of the proceeding unless otherwise ordered by the Commission, be assigned to any other referee.

At any time after the institution of a proceeding, and before it has been submitted to the Commission for final consideration, the Commission or the referee may, upon petition in writing and for good cause shown, permit any person to intervene therein. The petition shall state with preciseness and particularity: (a) The petitioner's relationship to the matters involved in the proceeding, (b) the nature of the material he intends to present in evidence, (c) the nature of the argument he intends to make, (d) any other reason that he should be allowed to intervene.

§ 0.59 The answer.

(a) Filing and service. Within 20 days after service of the complaint, the respondent shall file, in quintuplicate, with the hearing clerk an answer, signed by the respondent or his attorney: Provided, That the Commission may order that the hearing be held without answer or other pleading. The answer shall be served upon the complainant, and any other party of record, in the manner provided in § 0.72.

(b) Contents; failure to file. Such answer shall (1) contain a statement of the facts which constitute the grounds of defense, and shall specifically admit, deny, or explain each of the allegations of the complaint unless respondent is without knowledge, in which case the answer shall so state; or (2) state that the respondent admits all of the allegations of the complaint. The answer may contain a waiver of hearing.

Failure to file an answer to or plead specifically to any allegation of the complaint shall constitute an admission of such allegation.

(c) Procedure upon admission of facts. The admission, in the answer or

by failure to file an answer, of all the material allegations of fact contained in the complaint shall constitute a waiver of hearing. Upon such admission of facts, the referee, without further investigation or hearing, shall prepare his report, in which he shall adopt as his proposed findings of fact the material facts alleged in the complaint. Unless

the parties have waived service of the referee's report, it shall be served upon them in the manner provided in § 0.72. The parties shall be given an opportunity to file exceptions to the report, to file briefs in support of such exceptions, and to make oral argument thereon before the Commission. Any request to make oral argument before the Commission must be filed in the manner and within the time provided in § 0.66(d). § 0.60

Motions and requests.

(a) General. All motions and requests shall be filed with the hearing clerk, except that those made during the course of an oral hearing may be filed with the referee or may be stated orally and made a part of the transcript.

The referee is authorized to rule upon all motions and requests filed or made prior to the filing of his report with the hearing clerk as provided in this subpart. The Commission will rule upon all motions and requests filed after that time.

(b) Motions entertained. Any motion will be entertained except a motion to dismiss on the pleadings.

The submission or certification of any motion, request, objection, or other question to the Commission prior to the time when the referee's report is filed with the hearing clerk shall be in the discretion of the referee.

§ 0.61

Oral hearing before referee.

(a) Request for oral hearing. Any party may request an oral hearing on the facts by including such request in the complaint or answer or by a separate request in writing filed with the hearing clerk. Failure by the respondent to request an oral hearing within the time allowed for the filing of the answer shall constitute a waiver of such hearing, and any respondent so failing to request an oral hearing will be deemed to have agreed that the proceeding may be decided upon a record formed under the shortened procedure provided for in § 0.77.

Waiver of oral hearing shall not be deemed to be a waiver of the right to

make oral argument before the Commission upon exceptions to the referee's report. Such argument will be allowed in accordance with the provisions of § 0.69.

(b) Time and place. If and when the proceeding has reached the stage where an oral hearing is to be held, the referee, giving careful consideration to the convenience of the parties, shall set a time and place for hearing and shall file with the hearing clerk a notice stating the time and place. If any change in the time or place of the hearing is made, the referee shall file with the hearing clerk a notice of such change, which notice shall be served upon the parties, unless it is made during an oral hearing and made a part of the transcript.

(c) Appearances—(1) Representation. In any proceeding, the parties may appear in person or by counsel or other representative. The Commission, if represented by counsel, shall be represented by an attorney assigned by the Solicitor of the Department.

Persons who appear as counsel or in a representative capacity at a hearing must conform to the standards of ethical conduct required of practitioners before the courts of the United States. Whenever the Commsission finds, after notice and opportunity for hearing, that a person, who is acting or has acted as counsel or representative for another person in any proceeding before the Commission, is unfit to act as such representative or counsel, it will order that such person be precluded from acting as counsel or representative in any proceeding under the act. The procedure in such case will be governed by the applicable provisions of this subpart.

(2) Failure to appear. If any party to the proceeding, after being duly notified, fails to appear at the hearing, he shall be deemed to have waived the right to an oral hearing in the proceeding. In the event that a party appears at the hearing and no party appears for the opposing side, the party who is present shall have an election to present his evidence, in whole or in part, in the form of affidavits or by oral testimony before the referee.

Failure to appear at a hearing shall not be deemed to be a waiver of the right to be served with a copy of the referee's report and to file exceptions and make oral argument before the Commission with respect thereto, in the manner provided in this subpart.

(d) Order of proceeding. Except as may be determined otherwise by the referee, the complainant shall proceed first at the hearing.

In general.

(e) Evidence—(1) The testimony of witnesses at a hearing shall be upon oath or affirmation adminstered by the referee and shall be subject to cross-examination.

Any witness may, in the discretion of the referee, be examined separately and apart from all other witnesses except those who may be parties to the proceeding.

The referee shall exclude evidence which is immaterial, irrelevant, or unduly repetitious, or which is not of the sort upon which responsible persons are accustomed to rely.

(2) Objections. If a party objects to the admission or rejection of any evidence or to the limitations of the scope of any examination or cross-examination, he shall state briefly the grounds of such objection, whereupon an automatic exception will follow if the objection is overruled by the referee. The transcript shall not include argument or debate thereon except as ordered by the referee. The ruling of the referee on any objection shall be a part of the transcript.

Only objections made before the referee may subsequently be relied upon in the proceeding.

(3) Depositions. The deposition of any witness shall be admitted, in the manner provided in and subject to the provisions of § 0.62.

(4) Affidavits. Except as is otherwise provided in the rules in this subpart, affidavits may be admitted only if the evidence is otherwise admissible and the parties agree that affidavits may be used.

(5) Proof of documents. A true copy of every written entry in the records of the Commission or of the Department, made by an officer or employee thereof in the course of his official duty, and relevant to the issues involved in the hearing, shall be admissible as prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein, without the production of such officer or employee.

(6) Exhibits. Except where the referee finds that the furnishing of copies is impracticable, a copy of each exhibit, in addition to the original, shall be filed with the referee for the use of each other party to the proceeding. The referee shall advise the parties as to the exact number of copies which will be required to be filed and shall make and have noted

on the record the proper distribution of the copies.

(7) Official notice. Official notice will be taken of such matters as are judicially noticed by the courts of the United States and of any other matter of technical or scientific fact of established character: Provided, That the parties shall be given adequate notice, at the hearing or by reference in the referee's report or tentative order or otherwise, of matters so noticed, and shall be given adequate opportunity to show that such facts are erroneously noticed.

(8) Offer or proof. Whenever evidence is excluded from the record, the party offering such evidence may make an offer of proof, which shall be included in the transcript. The offer of proof shall consist of a brief statement describing the evidence to be offered. If the evidence consists of a brief oral statement or of an exhibit, it shall be inserted into the transcript in totto. In such event, it shall be considered a part of the transcript if the Commission decides that the referee's ruling in excluding the evidence was erroneous. The referee shall not allow the insertion of such evidence in toto if the taking of such evidence will consume a considerable length of time at the hearing. In the latter event, if the Commission decides that the referee's ruling in excluding the evidence was erroneous, the hearing shall be reopened to permit the taking of such evidence.

(f) Oral argument before referee. In disciplinary proceedings, oral argument before the referee shall be allowed unless the referee finds that the denial of such argument will not deprive the parties of an adequate opportunity for oral argument subsequently in the proceeding. Such argument may be limited by the referee to any extent that he finds necessary for the expeditious disposition of the proceeding.

(g) Transcript. Copies of the transscript may be obtained upon written application filed with the reporter, and upon the payment of fees at the rate provided in the contract with the reporter.

shall set forth: (1) The name and address of the proposed deponent; (2) the name and address of the person (referred to hereinafter in this section as the officer"), qualified under the rules in this subpart to take depositions, before whom the proposed examination is to be made; (3) the proposed time and place of the examination, which should be at least 15 days after the date of the mailing of the application; and (4) the reasons why such deposition should be taken.

(b) Referee's order for taking deposition. If the referee is satisfied that good cause for taking the deposition is present, he may order its taking. The order shall be filed with the hearing clerk and shall be served upon the parties and shall state: (1) The time and place of the examination (which shall not be less than 10 days after the filing of the order); (2) the name of the officer before whom the examination is to be made; (3) the name of the deponent. The officer and the time and place need not be the same as those suggested in the application.

(c) Qualifications of officer. The deposition "may be taken before any judge of any court of the United States, or any United States Commissioner, or any clerk of a district court, or any chancellor, justice, or judge of a supreme or superior court, mayor or chief magistrate of a city, judge of a county court, or court of common pleas of any of the United States, or any notary public, not being of counsel or attorney to either of the parties, nor interested in the event of the proceedings".3

(d) Procedure on examination. The deponent shall be examined under oath or affirmation and shall be subject to cross-examination. The testimony of the deponent shall be recorded by the officer or by some person under his direction and in his presence. In lieu of oral cross-examination, parties may transmit written cross-interrogatories to the officer prior to the examination and the officer shall propound such cross-interrogatories to the deponent.

The applicant must arrange for the examination of the witness either by oral examination or by written interrogatories. If it is found by the referee,

3 Words in quotation marks from 24 Stat. 383, as amended; 49 U.S.C. 12, which is made applicable to proceedings under the Commodity Exchange Act by sec. 6(b) as amended (42 Stat. 1001, as amended; 7 U.S.C. 15).

upon the protest of a party to the proceeding, that such party has his residence and his place of business more than 100 miles from the place of the examination and that it would constitute an undue hardship upon such party to be represented at the examination, the applicant will be required to conduct the examination by means of interrogatories. When the examination is conducted by means of interrogatories, copies of the interrogatories shall be served upon the other parties to the proceeding at least five days prior to the date set for the examination, and the other parties shall be afforded an opportunity to file with the officer cross-interrogatories at any time prior to the time of the examination.

(e) Signature by witness. The transscript of the deposition shall be read to or by the deponent, unless such reading is waived by the parties and the deponent. Any changes which the deponent wishes to make shall be entered upon the deposition by the officer, with a statement of the reasons given by the deponent for such changes. The deposition shall be signed by the deponent unless the parties by stipulation waive such signing, or unless the deponent is ill or cannot be found or refuses to sign. If the deponent does not sign, the officer shall sign and shall state on the record the reason why the deponent did not sign. In such case the deposition shall be as valid as though signed by the deponent, unless the referee finds that the reason given by the deponent for his refusal to sign requires rejection of the deposition in whole or in part.

(f) Certification by officer. The offcer shall certify on the deposition that the deponent was duly sworn by him and that the deposition is a true record of the deponent's testimony. He shall then securely seal the deposition, together with two copies thereof, in an envelope and mail the same by registered mail to the hearing clerk.

(g) Use of depositions. A deposition ordered and taken in accord with the provisions of this section may be used in a proceeding if the referee finds that the evidence is otherwise admissible and (1) that the witness is dead; or (2) that the witness is at a greater distance than 100 miles from the place of hearing, unless it appears that the absence of the witness was procured by the party offering the deposition; or (3) that the witness is unable to attend or testify because of