Title 16

SECTION 1025.45

1025.45 In camera materials.

§ 1025.45 In camera materials.

(a) Definition. In camera materials are documents, testimony, or other data which by order of the Presiding Officer or the Commission are kept confidential and excluded from the public record.

(b) In camera treatment of documents and testimony. The Presiding Officer or the Commission shall have authority, when good cause is found on the record, to order documents or testimony offered in evidence, whether admitted or rejected, to be received and preserve in camera. The order shall specify the length of time for in camera treatment and shall include:

(1) A description of the documents or testimony;

(2) The reasons for granting in camera treatment for the specified length of time; and

(3) The terms and conditions imposed by the Presiding Official, if any, limiting access to or use of the in camera material.

(c) Access and disclosure to parties. (1) Commissioners and their staffs, Presiding Officers and their staffs, and Commission staff members concerned with judicial review shall have complete access to in camera materials. Any party to the proceedings may seek access only in accordance with paragraph (c)(2) of this section.

(2) Any party desiring access to, or disclosure of, in camera materials for the preparation and presentation of that party's case shall make a motion which sets forth its justification. The Presiding Officer or the Commission may grant such motion for good cause shown and shall enter a protective order prohibiting unnecessary disclosure and requiring any other necessary safeguards. The Presiding Officer or the Commission may examine the in camera materials and excise any portions prior to disclosure of the materials to the moving party.

(d) Segregation of in camera materials. In camera materials shall be segregated from the public record and protected from public view.

(e) Public release of in camera materials. In camera materials constitute a part of the confidential records of the Commission and shall not be released to the public until the expiration of in camera treatment.

(f) Reference to in camera materials. In the submission of proposed findings, conclusions, briefs, or other documents, all parties shall refrain from disclosing specific details of in camera materials. However, such refraining shall not preclude general references to such materials. To the extent that parties consider necessary the inclusion of specific details of in camera materials, those references shall be incorporated into separate proposed findings, conclusions, briefs, or other documents marked “Confidential, Contains In Camera Material,” which shall be placed in camera and become part of the in camera record. Those documents shall be served only on parties accorded access to the in camera materials by these rules, the Presiding Officer, or the Commission.

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