INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION RULES OF PRACTISE BEFORE THE COMMISSION IN CASES AND PROCEEDINGS COMMERCE I. Public Sessions. Sessions of the Commission for hearing contested cases, including oral arguments, will be held as ordered by the Commission. The office of the Commission at Washington, D. C., is open each business day from 9 a. m. to 4:30 p. m. II. Parties to Cases. Any person, firm, company corporation, or association, mercantile, agricultural, or manufacturing society, body politic or municipal organization, or any common carrier, or the railroad commissioner or commission of any State or Territory, may complain to the Commission of anything done, or omitted to be done, in violation of the provisions of the Act to Regulate Commerce by any common carrier subject to the provisions of said Act. If a complaint relates to matters in which two or more carriers, engaged in transportation by continuous carriage or shipment, are interested, the several carriers participating in such carriage or shipment are necessary parties defendant. If a complaint relates to rates, regulations, or practises of car riers operating different lines, and the object of the proceeding is to secure correction of such rates, regulations, or practises on each of said lines, all the carriers operating such lines should be made defendants. If a complaint relates to provisions of a classification it will ordinarily be sufficient to name as defendants the principal carriers named as parties to the classification. If the line of a carrier is operated by a receiver or trustee, both the carrier and its receiver or trustee must be made defendants in cases involving transportation over such line. Any person may petition in any proceeding for leave to intervene prior to or at the time of the hearing and not after. Such petition shall set forth the petitioner's interest in the proceedings, but intervention will not be permitted, except upon allegations that are reasonably pertinent to the issues of the original complaint. Leave granted on such petition will entitle such interveners to have notice of hearings, to produce and cross-examine witnesses, and to be heard in person or by counsel upon brief and at the oral argument. III. Complaints. Complaints must be in typewriting on one side of the paper only, on paper not more than 81⁄2 inches wide and not more than 12 inches long, and weighing not less than 16 pounds to the ream, folio base, 17 by 22 inches, with left hand margin not less than 11⁄2 inches wide, setting forth briefly the facts claimed to constitute a violation of the law. Complaints may also be printed in the size designated in Rule XIV regarding briefs. The corporate name of the carrier or carriers complained against must be stated in full without abbreviations, and the address of the complainant, with the name and address of his attorney or counsel, if any, must appear upon each copy of the complaint. The complaint need not be verified, but must be signed in ink by the complainant or his duly authorized attorney. The complainant must furnish as many complete copies of the complaint as there may be parties complained against to be served, including receiver or receivers, and three additional copies for the use of the Commission. The Commission will serve the complaint upon each defendant by leaving a copy with its agent in the District of Columbia, or, if no such agent has been designated, by posting a copy in the office of the secretary of the Commission. Two or more complaints involving the same principle, subject, or state of facts may be included in one complaint. The several rates, regulations, discriminations, and shipments involved should be separately set out. One or more persons may join in one complaint against one or more carriers if the subject matter of the complaint involves substantially the same principle, subject, or state of facts. Except under unusual circumstances and for good cause shown, reparation will not be awarded unless specifically prayed for in the complaint or in an amendment thereto filed before the submission of the case. After a final order has been entered upon a complaint in which reparation is not sought or, if prayed, has been denied, the Commission will not ordinarily award reparation upon a complaint subsequently filed and based upon any finding upon the first complaint. Where reparation is demanded under a general rate adjustment challenged in the complaint, or upon many shipments under a particular rate, or where many points of origin or destination are involved, it is the practise of the Commission first to determine and make a formal announcement respecting the reasonableness of the rate or rates in issue, and whether the facts justify an award of reparation, giving to the parties thereafter an opportunity to make proof respecting the shipments upon which reparation is claimed. Freight bills and other exhibits must therefore be reserved until such further hearing and must not be filed with the complaint. In such cases the complaint, without unnecessary details, should disclose in general terms the basis and extent of the damages demanded in such manner as reasonably to advise the defendants thereof. When a claim for reparation has been before the Commission informally and the parties have been notified by the Commission that the claim is of such a nature that it can not be determined informally, formal complaint must be filed within six months after such notification, or the parties will be deemed to have abandoned their claim: Provided, however, That this rule does not apply to formal complaints for reparation filed within two years from the date of the delivery of the shipments. IV. Answers. One copy of each answer must, unless the Commission orders otherwise, be filed with the secretary of the Commission at his office in Washington, D. C., within 30 days after the day of service of the complaint by defendants whose general offices are at or west of El Paso, Tex., Salt Lake City, Utah, or Spokane, Wash., and within 20 days by all other defendants, and a copy of each such answer must be at the same time served personally or by mail upon the complainant or his attorney. The Commission will, when advisable, shorten or extend the time for answer. If a defendant satisfies a complaint before answering, a written acknowledgment thereof, showing the character and extent of the satisfaction given, must be filed by the complainant. In such case a statement of the fact and manner of satisfaction without other matter may be filed as answer. If the complaint is satisfied after the filing and service of answer, a written acknowledgment thereof must be filed by the complainant and a supplemental answer setting forth the fact and manner of satisfaction must be filed by the defendant. Answers in typewriting must be on one side of the paper only, on paper not more than 81⁄2 inches wide and not more than 12 inches long and weighing not less than 16 pounds to the ream, folio base, 17 by 22 inches, with left-hand margin not less than 11⁄2 inches wide, or may be printed in the size designated in Rule XIV regarding briefs. V. Motion to Dismiss. A defendant who deems the complaint insufficient to show a breach of legal duty may, instead of answering or formally demurring, serve on the complainant notice of hearing on the complaint; and in such case the facts stated in the complaint will be deemed admitted. A copy of the notice must at the same time be filed with the secretary of the Commission. The filing of an answer, however, will not be deemed an admission of the sufficiency of the complaint, but a motion to dismiss for insufficiency may be made at the hearing. |