§ 1.244 - Designation of a settlement officer.  


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  • § 1.244 Designation of a settlement judge.

    (a) In broadcast comparative cases involving applicants for only new facilities, the applicants may request the appointment of a settlement judge

    officer.

    (a) Parties may request that the presiding officer appoint a settlement officer to facilitate the resolution of the case by settlement.

    (b) Where all applicants parties in the a case agree that such procedures may be beneficial, such requests may be filed with the presiding judge officer no later than 15 days prior to the date scheduled by the presiding judge for the commencement of hearings or, in hearing proceedings conducted pursuant to §§ 1.370 through 1.377, no later than 15 days before the date set as the deadline for filing the affirmative case. The presiding judge officer shall suspend the procedural dates in the case and forward the request to the Chief Administrative Law Judge for actionpending action upon such requests.

    (c) If, in the discretion of the Chief Administrative Law Judgepresiding officer, it appears that the appointment of a settlement judge officer will facilitate the settlement of the case, the Chief Judge will presiding officer shall appoint a “neutral” as defined in 5 U.S.C. 581 and 583(a) 571 and 573 to act as the settlement judgeofficer.

    (1) The parties may request the appointment of a settlement judge officer of their own choosing so long as that person is a “neutral” as defined in 5 U.S.C. 581571 and 573.

    (2) The appointment of a settlement judge officer in a particular case is subject to the approval of all the applicants parties in the proceeding. See 5 U.S.C. 583

    (

    b).

    (3) The Commission's Administrative Law Judges are eligible to act as settlement judges, except that an Administrative Law Judge will not be appointed as a settlement judge in any case in which the Administrative Law Judge also acts as the presiding officer Neither the Commission, nor any sitting members of the Commission, nor the presiding officer shall serve as the settlement officer in any case.

    (4) Other members of the Commission's staff who qualify as neutrals may be appointed as settlement judges, except that staff members whose duties include drafting, review, and/or recommendations in adjudicatory matters pending before the Commission shall not be appointed as settlement judgesofficers. The presiding officer shall not appoint a member of the Commission's staff as a settlement officer in any case if the staff member's duties include, or have included, drafting, reviewing, and/or recommending actions on the merits of the issues designated for hearing in that case.

    (d) The settlement judge officer shall have the authority to require applicants parties to submit their written direct cases for review. The settlement judge officer may also meet with the applicants parties and/or their counsel, individually and/or at joint conferences, to discuss their cases and the cases of their competitors. All such meetings will be off-the-record, and the settlement judge officer may express an opinion as to the relative comparative standing merit of the applicants parties' positions and recommend possible means to resolve the proceeding by settlement. The proceedings before the settlement judge officer shall be subject to the confidentiality provisions of 5 U.S.C. 574. Moreover, no statements, offers of settlement, representations or concessions of the parties or opinions expressed by the settlement judge officer will be admissible as evidence in any Commission licensing proceeding.

    [56 85 FR 79363176, JanOct. 9, 1991, as amended at 62 FR 4171, Jan. 29, 1997; 76 FR 70908, Nov. 16, 20116, 2020]