[Code of Federal Regulations] [Title 43, Volume 1] [Revised as of October 1, 2006] From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 43CFR4.122] [Page 81-82] TITLE 43--PUBLIC LANDS: INTERIOR PART 4_DEPARTMENT HEARINGS AND APPEALS PROCEDURES--Table of Contents Subpart C_Special Rules of Practice Before the Interior Board of Contract Appeals Sec. 4.122 Nature of hearings. Hearings shall be as informal as may be reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances. Appellant and respondent may offer at a hearing on the merits of such relevant evidence as they [[Page 82]] deem appropriate and as would be admissible under the generally accepted rules of evidence applied in the courts of the United States in nonjury trials, subject, however, to the sound discretion of the presiding member or hearing officer in supervising the extent and manner of presentation of such evidence. In general, admissibility will hinge on relevancy and materiality. Letters or copies thereof, affidavits, or other evidence not ordinarily admissible under the generally accepted rules of evidence, may be admitted in the discretion of the presiding member or hearing officer. The weight to be attached to evidence presented in any particular form will be within the discretion of the Board, taking into consideration all the circumstances of the particular case. Stipulations of fact agreed upon by the parties may be regarded and used as evidence at the hearing. The parties may stipulate the testimony that would be given by a witness if the witness were present. The Board may in any case require evidence in addition to that offered by the parties.