1.248—Prehearing conferences; hearing conferences.
(a)
The Commission, on its own initiative or at the request of any party, may direct the parties or their attorneys to appear at a specified time and place for a conference prior to a hearing, or to submit suggestions in writing, for the purpose of considering, among other things, the matters set forth in paragraph (c) of this section. The initial prehearing conference shall be scheduled 30 days after the effective date of the order designating a case for hearing, unless good cause is shown for scheduling such conference at a later date.
(b)
(1)
The presiding officer (or the Commission or a panel of commissioners in a case over which it presides), on his own initiative or at the request of any party, may direct the parties or their attorneys to appear at a specified time and place for a conference prior to or during the course of a hearing, or to submit suggestions in writing, for the purpose of considering any of the matters set forth in paragraph (c) of this section. The initial prehearing conference shall be scheduled 30 days after the effective date of the order designating a case for hearing, unless good cause is shown for scheduling such conference at a later date.
(2)
Except as circumstances otherwise require, the presiding officer shall allow a reasonable period prior to commencement of the hearing for the orderly completion of all prehearing procedures, including discovery, and for the submission and disposition of all prehearing motions. Where the circumstances so warrant, the presiding officer shall, promptly after the hearing is ordered, call a preliminary prehearing conference, to inquire into the use of available procedures contemplated by the parties and the time required for their completion, to formulate a schedule for their completion, and to set a date for commencement of the hearing.
(c)
In conferences held, or in suggestions submitted, pursuant to paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, the following matters, among others, may be considered:
(1)
The necessity or desirability of simplification, clarification, amplification, or limitation of the issues;
(2)
The admission of facts and of the genuineness of documents (see § 1.246 ), and the possibility of stipulating with respect to facts;
(5)
In cases arising under Title II of the Communications Act, the necessity or desirability of amending the pleadings and offers of settlement or proposals of adjustment; and
(viii)
The method of handling evidence relating to the past cooperation of existing stations owned and/or operated by the applicants with organizations in the area;
(7)
In proceedings in which consent agreements may be negotiated (see § 1.93 ), the parties shall be prepared to state at the initial prehearing conference whether they are at that time willing to enter negotiations leading to a consent agreement.
(1)
At the prehearing conference prescribed by this section, the parties to the proceeding shall be prepared to discuss the advisability of reducing any or all phases of their affirmative direct cases to written form.
(2)
In hearings involving applications for new, improved and changed facilities and in comparative hearings involving only applications for new facilities, where it appears that it will contribute significantly to the disposition of the proceeding for the parties to submit all or any portion of their affirmative direct cases in writing, the presiding officer may, in his discretion, require them to do so.
(3)
In other broadcast proceedings, where it appears that it will contribute significantly to the disposition of the proceeding for the parties to submit all or any portion of their affirmative direct cases in writing, it is the policy of the Commission to encourage them to do so. However, the phase or phases of the proceeding to be submitted in writing, the dates for the exchange of the written material, and other limitations upon the effect of adopting the written case procedure (such as whether material ruled out as incompetent may be restored by other competent testimony) is to be left to agreement of the parties as approved by the presiding officer.
(4)
In broadcast comparative cases involving applicants for only new facilities, oral testimony and cross examination will be permitted only where, in the discretion of the presiding judge, material issues of decisional fact cannot be resolved without oral evidentiary hearing procedures or the public interest otherwise requires oral evidentiary proceedings.
(f)
The presiding officer may, upon the written request of a party or parties, approve the use of a speakerphone as a means of attendance at a prehearing conference if such use is found to conduce to the proper dispatch of business and the ends of justice.
[28 FR 12425, Nov. 22, 1963, as amended at 33 FR 463, Jan. 12, 1968; 36 FR 14133, July 30, 1971; 37 FR 7507, Apr. 15, 1972; 41 FR 14873, Apr. 8, 1976; 43 FR 33251, July 31, 1978; 56 FR 793, Jan. 9, 1991]