[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 16, Volume 2]
[Revised as of January 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 16CFR1025.43]

[Page 88-89]
 
                     TITLE 16--COMMERCIAL PRACTICES
 
             CHAPTER II--CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
 
PART 1025--RULES OF PRACTICE FOR ADJUDICATIVE PROCEEDINGS--Table of Contents
 
                           Subpart E--Hearings
 
Sec.  1025.43  Evidence.

    (a) Applicability of Federal Rules of Evidence. Unless otherwise 
provided by statute or these rules, the Federal Rules of Evidence shall 
apply to all proceedings held pursuant to these Rules. However, the 
Federal Rules of Evidence may be relaxed by the Presiding Officer if the 
ends of justice will be better served by so doing.
    (b) Burden of proof. (1) Complaint counsel shall have the burden of 
sustaining the allegations of any complaint.
    (2) Any party who is the proponent of a legal or factual proposition 
shall have the burden of sustaining that proposition.
    (c) Admissibility. All relevant and reliable evidence is admissible, 
but may be excluded by the Presiding Officer if its probative value is 
substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice or confusion of the issues, 
or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, immateriality, or 
needless presentation of cumulative evidence.
    (d) Official notice--(1) Definition. Official notice means use by 
the Presiding Officer or the Commission of facts not appearing on the 
record and legal conclusions drawn from those facts. An officially 
noticed fact or legal conclusion must be one not subject to reasonable 
dispute in that it is either:
    (i) Generally known within the jurisdiction of the Commission or
    (ii) Capable of accurate and ready determination by resort to 
sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.
    (2) Method of taking official notice. The Presiding Officer and/or 
the Commission may at any time take official notice upon motion of any 
party or upon its own initiative. The record shall reflect the facts and 
conclusions which have been officially noticed.
    (e) [Reserved]
    (f) Offer of proof. When an objection to proffered testimony or 
documentary evidence is sustained, the sponsoring party may make a 
specific offer, either in writing or orally, of what the party expects 
to prove by the testimony or the document. When an offer of proof is 
made, any other party may make a specific offer, either in writing or 
orally, of what the party expects to present

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to rebut or contradict the offer of proof. Written offers of proof or of 
rebuttal, adequately marked for identification, shall accompany the 
record and be available for consideration by any reviewing authority.