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Massachusetts Regulations § 950 CMR 59.04 Discovery and Intervention

⤴ Up to Title 950 CMR 59.00: State Ballot Law Commission: Adjudicatory Proceedings

Regulation Text

(1) Discovery .
(a)
1. Requests for Documents . Any party to an adjudicatory proceeding may request any other party to produce or make available for inspection, copying or photocopying any documents or tangible things, not privileged, not previously supplied, which are in the possession, custody, or control of the party upon whom the request is made, and which are relevant to the subject matter of the proceeding.
2. Procedure . The request may be served upon the party after commencement of the action and shall set forth the times to be inspected by individual item or category with reasonable particularity. Such inspection shall be made at the office of the Commission or such other place as the Commission shall designate. The party upon whom the request is served shall respond at least 24 hours before hearing.
(b) Depositions . The testimony of any witness may be taken by deposition, upon motion made by a party, upon approval by the Commission or presiding officer.
1. Form and Content . A motion requesting a deposition shall state the name and address of the witness to be deposed, the subject matter concerning which the witness is expected to testify, the time and place of taking the deposition, the name and address of the person before whom the deposition is desired, and the reason why such deposition should be taken.
2. Authorization to Take . The Commission or presiding officer shall allow the motion only upon a showing that the parties have agreed to submit the deposition in lieu of testimony by the witness or the witness to be deposed cannot appear before the Commission or presiding officer without substantial hardship, and that testimony being sought is significant, not privileged and not discoverable by an alternative means. If the motion is allowed, the Commission or presiding officer shall give reasonable notice of the taking of the deposition to all parties.
3. Officer Before Whom Deposition Is Taken . Depositions shall be taken orally before a person having power to administer oaths.
4. Scope and Conduct of Deposition . Every witness testifying upon deposition shall be duly sworn, and the adverse party(ies) shall have the right to cross-examine.
a. Objections to questions shall be in short form, stating the ground of objection relied upon.
b. The testimony shall be reduced to writing and shall unless waived be signed by the witness, and certified by the officer before whom the deposition is taken.
c. After the deposition has been subscribed and certified, it shall be forwarded to the Commission or presiding officer.
d. Subject to appropriate rulings on objections and the parties' agreement regarding its use, the deposition shall be received in evidence as if the testimony contained therein had been given by the witness in the proceeding. 5. Recording by Other than Stenographic Means . The Commission or presiding officer may order that the testimony at a deposition be recorded by other than stenographic means, in which event the order shall designate the manner of recording, persevering, and filing the deposition, and may include other provisions to assure that the recorded testimony will be accurate and trustworthy.
(c) Interrogatories . A party to the adjudicatory proceeding may move for leave to serve written interrogatories upon any other party for the purpose of discovering relevant, not privileged information not previously supplied through voluntary discovery. Interrogatories may be served after commencement of the proceeding. No party, without approval of the Commission or presiding officer, shall serve more than 30 interrogatories including subsidiary or incidental questions.
1. Answers to Interrogatories . Each interrogatory shall be separately and duly answered under the penalties of perjury unless it is objected to, in which event, the reasons for the objection should be stated in lieu of an answer. Such answers shall be filed within such time as the Commission or presiding officer specifies.
Stipulations . In the discretion of the Commission or presiding officer, the parties may, by written stipulation filed with the Commission or presiding officer at any stage of the proceeding, or by oral stipulation made at the hearing, agree upon any pertinent facts in the proceeding. In making its finding, the Commission or presiding officer need not be bound by any stipulation which is found to be in contravention of law or erroneous on its face.
(d) Objection/Protective Orders . The party upon whom the request for discovery is served may, within 24 hours of service of the request, file with the Commission or presiding officer objections to the request or move for protective order. A prompt hearing shall be scheduled upon the motion. Protective orders may be issued to protect a party from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression or undue burden or expense. Orders of the Commission or presiding officer may include limitations on the scope, method, time and place for discovery or provisions for protecting confidential information or documents.
(e) Motion for Order Compelling Discover . Upon reasonable notice to other parties, a party may file with the Commission or presiding officer a motion to compel discovery in the event that a request is not honored, or only partially honored, or interrogatories or questions at depositions are not completed/answered.
(f) List of Signatures . Not later than the third weekday before the date of the hearing contained in the Secretary's notice, the objector shall file and cause to be delivered to the respondent a list of all signatures on the respondent's nomination paper or petition which are drawn in question by the objection, showing the page and line where each is located, and the reason why each is alleged to be improper. In the case of an objection to a nomination for a special primary or election, however, this list must be filed and delivered by the deadline file objections.
(2) Intervention and Participation .
(a) Initiation . Any person not initially a party, who with good cause wishes to intervene in, or participate in, an adjudicatory proceeding shall file a written request (petition) for leave to intervene or participate in the proceeding. Except as otherwise provided 950 CMR 59.00 , the petition shall be subject to 950 CMR 59.03 (2) : Motions and the Commission or presiding officer shall act pursuant to 950 CMR 59.03 (2) .
(b) Form and Content . The petition shall state the name and address of the person making the petition. It shall describe the manner in which the person making the motion is affected by the proceeding. It shall state the contention of the person making the petition as to why intervention or participation should be allowed, the relief sought and the statutory or other law in support thereof.
(c) Filing the Petition . Unless an applicable statute requires otherwise, the petition may be filed at any time following the commencement of the adjudicatory proceeding, but in no event, later than the date fixed by the Commission. Petitions filed may be allowed at the discretion of the Commission or the presiding officer, provided that the parties are given notice and opportunity to object.
(d) Rights of Intervenors . Intervenors shall be persons substantially and specifically affected by the proceeding. Any person permitted to intervene shall have all the rights of, and be subject to, all limitations imposed upon a party, however, the Commission or presiding officer may exclude repetitive or irrelevant material. Every petition to intervene shall be treated as a petition in the alternative to participate.
(e) Rights of Participants . Any person substantially and specifically affected by a proceeding shall be permitted to participate. Permission to participate shall be limited to the right to argue orally at the close of hearing and shall include the right to file a brief. Permission to participate, unless otherwise stated, shall not be deemed to constitute an expression that the person allowed to participate is a party in interest who may be aggrieved by any final decision. A person who petitioned to intervene and who was allowed only to participate, may participate without waiving his rights to administrative or judicial review of the denial of said motion to intervene.

History

Adopted by Mass Register Issue 1315 , eff. 6/17/2016 .

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