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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 409. Hearings
(a) Filing of initial decisions; exceptions
In every case of adjudication (as defined in section 551 of title
5) which has been designated by the Commission for hearing, the
person or persons conducting the hearing shall prepare and file an
initial, tentative, or recommended decision, except where such
person or persons become unavailable to the Commission or where the
Commission finds upon the record that due and timely execution of
its functions imperatively and unavoidably require that the record
be certified to the Commission for initial or final decision.
(b) Exceptions to initial decisions; memoranda; determination of
Commission or authority within Commission; prohibition against
consideration of own decision
In every case of adjudication (as defined in section 551 of title
5) which has been designated by the Commission for hearing, any
party to the proceeding shall be permitted to file exceptions and
memoranda in support thereof to the initial, tentative, or
recommended decision, which shall be passed upon by the Commission
or by the authority within the Commission, if any, to whom the
function of passing upon the exceptions is delegated under section
155(d)(1) (!1) of this title: Provided, however, That such
authority shall not be the same authority which made the decision
to which the exception is taken.
(c) Notice and opportunity for participation by parties;
applicability of administrative procedure provisions
(1) In any case of adjudication (as defined in section 551 of
title 5) which has been designated by the Commission for a hearing,
no person who has participated in the presentation or preparation
for presentation of such case at the hearing or upon review shall
(except to the extent required for the disposition of ex parte
matters as authorized by law) directly or indirectly make any
additional presentation respecting such case to the hearing officer
or officers or to the Commission, or to any authority within the
Commission to whom, in such case, review functions have been
delegated by the Commission under section 155(d)(1) (!1) of this
title, unless upon notice and opportunity for all parties to
participate.
(2) The provision in section 554(d) of title 5 which states that
such subsection shall not apply in determining applications for
initial licenses, shall not be applicable hereafter in the case of
applications for initial licenses before the Federal Communications
Commission.
(d) Applicability of administrative procedure provisions
To the extent that the foregoing provisions of this section and
section 155(d) (!1) of this title are in conflict with the
provisions of subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title
5, such provisions of this section and section 155(d) (!1) of this
title shall be held to supersede and modify the provisions of
subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 5.
(e) Subpenas; witnesses; production of documents; fees and mileage
For the purposes of this chapter the Commission shall have the
power to require by subpena the attendance and testimony of
witnesses and the production of all books, papers, schedules of
charges, contracts, agreements, and documents relating to any
matter under investigation. Witnesses summoned before the
Commission shall be paid the same fees and mileage that are paid
witnesses in the courts of the United States.
(f) Designated place of hearing; aid in enforcement of orders
Such attendance of witnesses, and the production of such
documentary evidence, may be required from any place in the United
States, at any designated place of hearing. And in case of
disobedience to a subpena the Commission, or any party to a
proceeding before the Commission, may invoke the aid of any court
of the United States in requiring the attendance and testimony of
witnesses and the production of books, papers, and documents under
the provisions of this section.
(g) Contempts
Any of the district courts of the United States within the
jurisdiction of which such inquiry is carried on may, in case of
contumacy or refusal to obey a subpena issued to any common carrier
or licensee or other person, issue an order requiring such common
carrier, licensee, or other person to appear before the Commission
(and produce books and papers if so ordered) and give evidence
touching the matter in question; and any failure to obey such order
of the court may be punished by such court as a contempt thereof.
(h) Depositions
The testimony of any witness may be taken, at the instance of a
party, in any proceeding or investigation pending before the
Commission, by deposition, at any time after a cause or proceeding
is at issue on petition and answer. The Commission may also order
testimony to be taken by deposition in any proceeding or
investigation pending before it, at any stage of such proceeding or
investigation. Such depositions may be taken before any judge of
any court of the United States, or any United States magistrate
judge, 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 proceeding or investigation. Reasonable notice
must first be given in writing by the party or his attorney
proposing to take such deposition to the opposite party or his
attorney of record, as either may be nearest, which notice shall
state the name of the witness and the time and place of the taking
of his deposition. Any person may be compelled to appear and
depose, and to produce documentary evidence, in the same manner as
witnesses may be compelled to appear and testify and produce
documentary evidence before the Commission, as hereinbefore
provided.
(i) Oaths; testimony in writing
Every person deposing as herein provided shall be cautioned and
sworn (or affirm, if he so request) to testify the whole truth, and
shall be carefully examined. His testimony shall be reduced to
writing by the magistrate taking the deposition, or under his
direction, and shall, after it has been reduced to writing, be
subscribed by the deponent.
(j) Foreign depositions
If a witness whose testimony may be desired to be taken by
deposition be in a foreign country, the deposition may be taken
before an officer or person designated by the Commission, or agreed
upon by the parties by stipulation in writing to be filed with the
Commission. All depositions must be promptly filed with the
Commission.
(k) Deposition fees
Witnesses whose depositions are taken as authorized in this
chapter, and the magistrate or other officer taking the same, shall
severally be entitled to the same fees as are paid for like
services in the courts of the United States.
(l) Repealed. Pub. L. 91-452, title II, Sec. 242, Oct. 15, 1970, 84
Stat. 930
(m) Penalties
Any person who shall neglect or refuse to attend and testify, or
to answer any lawful inquiry, or to produce books, papers,
schedules of charges, contracts, agreements, and documents, if in
his power to do so, in obedience to the subpena or lawful
requirement of the Commission, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and
upon conviction thereof by a court of competent jurisdiction shall
be punished by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $5,000,
or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both such fine
and imprisonment.
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