Title 5

SECTION 2473.1

2473.1 Subpenas.

§ 2473.1 Subpenas.

(a) Any member of the Panel, the Executive Director, or other person designated by the Panel, may issue subpenas requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of documentary or other evidence. However, no subpena shall be issued under this section which requires the disclosure of intramanagement guidance, advice, counsel, or training within an agency or between an agency and the Office of Personnel Management.

(b) Where the parties are in agreement that the appearance of witnesses or the production of documents is necessary, and such witnesses agree to appear, no such subpena need be sought.

(c) A request for a subpena by any person, as defined in 5 U.S.C. 7103(a)(1), shall be in writing and filed with the Executive Director, not less than fifteen (15) days prior to the opening of a hearing, or with the appropriate presiding official(s) during the hearing.

(d) All requests shall name and identify the witnesses or documents sought, and state the reasons therefor. The Panel, Executive Director, or any other person designated by the Panel, as appropriate, shall grant the request upon the determination that the testimony or documents appear to be necessary to the matters under consideration and the request describes with sufficient particularity the documents sought. Service of an approved subpena is the responsibility of the party on whose behalf the subpena was issued. The subpena shall show on its face the name and address of the party on whose behalf the subpena was issued.

(e) Any person served with a subpena who does not intend to comply shall within five (5) days after the date of service of the subpena upon such person, petition in writing to revoke the subpena. A copy of any petition to revoke a subpena shall be served on the party on whose behalf the subpena was issued. Such petition to revoke, if made prior to the hearing, and a written statement of service, shall be filed with the Executive Director. A petition to revoke a subpena filed during the hearing, and a written statement of service shall be filed with the appropriate presiding official(s). The Executive Director, or the appropriate presiding official(s) will, as a matter of course, cause a copy of the petition to revoke to be served on the party on whose behalf the subpena was issued, but shall not be deemed to assume responsibility for such service. The Panel, Executive Director, or any other person designated by the Panel, as appropriate, shall revoke the subpena if the evidence the production of which is required does not relate to any matter under consideration in the proceedings, or the subpena does not describe with sufficient particularity the evidence the production of which is required, or if for any other reason sufficient in law the subpena is invalid. The Panel, Executive Director, or any other person designated by the Panel, as appropriate, shall make a simple statement of procedural or other ground for the ruling on the petition to revoke. The petition to revoke, any answer thereto, and any ruling thereon shall not become part of the official record except upon the request of the party aggrieved by the ruling.

(f) Upon the failure of any person to comply with a subpena issued, and upon the request of the party on whose behalf the subpena was issued, the Solicitor of the FLRA shall, on behalf of such party, institute proceedings in the appropriate district court for the enforcement thereof, unless to do so would be inconsistent with law and the policies of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute. The Solicitor of the FLRA shall not be deemed thereby to have assumed responsibility for the effective prosecution of the same before the court thereafter.

(g) All papers submitted to the Executive Director under this section shall be filed in duplicate, along with a statement of service showing that a copy has been served on the other party to the dispute.

(h)(1) Witnesses (whether appearing voluntarily or under a subpena) shall be paid the fee and mileage allowances which are paid subpenaed witnesses in the courts of the United States: Provided, that any witness who is employed by the Federal Government shall not be entitled to receive witness fees in addition to compensation received in conjunction with official time granted for such participation, including necessary travel time, as occurs during the employee's regular work hours and when the employee would otherwise be in a work or paid leave status.

(2) Witness fees and mileage allowances shall be paid by the party at whose instance the witnesses appear except when the witness receives compensation in conjunction with official time as described in paragraph (h)(1) of this section.

[61 FR 41296, Aug. 8, 1996]