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(c) The report shall be filed, and a copy shall be sent to the applicants. Upon the filing of the report, the Assistant Attorney General for Administration shall cause to be issued a press release setting forth the substance thereof.

(d) Any person may, within 30 days after filing of the report, file a reply to the report for the consideration of the Attorney General.

§ 48.8 Written comments and requests for a hearing.

(a) Any person who believes that the Attorney General should or should not approve a proposed arrangement, may at any time after filing of the application until 30 days after publication in the FEDERAL REGISTER of the notice required in § 48.6,

(1) File written comments stating the reasons why approval should or should not be granted, and/or

(2) File a request that a hearing be held on the application. A request for a hearing shall set forth the issues of fact to be determined and the reasons that a hearing is required to determine them.

(b) Any person may within 30 days after the filing of any comment or request pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section, file a reply for the consideration of the Attorney General.

(c) After the expiration of the time for filing of replies in accordance with § 48.7 and this section the Attorney General shall either approve or deny approval of the arrangement, in accordance with §48.14, or shall order that a hearing be held.

§ 48.9 Extensions of time.

Any of the time periods established by these Regulations may be extended for good cause, upon timely application to the Attorney General, or to the administrative law judge if one has been appointed.

§ 48.10 Hearings.

(a) Upon the issuance by the Attorney General of an order for a hearing, the Assistant Attorney General for Administration shall appoint an administrative law judge in accordance with section 11 of the Administrative Proce

dure Act, 5 U.S.C. 3105. The administrative law judge shall:

(1) Set a date, time and place for the hearing convenient for all parties involved. The date set shall be as soon as practicable, allowing time for publication of the notice required in §48.6 and for a reasonable period of discovery as provided in this section. In setting a place for the hearing, preference shall be given to the community in which the applicants' newspapers operate.

(2) Mail notice of the hearing to the parties, to each person who filed written comments or a request for a hearing, and to any other person he believes may have an interest in the proceeding.

(3) Permit discovery by any party, as provided in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; except that he may place such limits as he deems reasonable on the time and manner of taking discovery in order to avoid unnecessary delays in the proceedings.

(4) Conduct a hearing in accordance with section 7 of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 556. At such hearing, the burden of proving that the proposed arrangement meets the requirements of the Newspaper Preservation Act will be on the proponents of the arrangement. The rules of evidence which govern civil proceedings in matters not involving trial by jury in the courts of the United States shall apply, but these rules may be relaxed if the ends of justice will be better served in so doing: Provided, that the introduction of irrelevant, immaterial, or unduly repetitious evidence is avoided. Only parties to the proceedings may present evidence, or cross-examine witnesses.

(b) The applicants and the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division shall be parties in any hearing held hereunder. Other persons may intervene as parties as provided in § 48.11.

(c) The Assistant Attorney General for Administration shall procure the services of a stenographic reporter. One copy of the transcript produced shall be placed in the public docket. Additional copies may be purchased from the reporter or, if the arrangement with the reporter permits, from the Department of Justice at its cost.

(d) Following the hearing the administrative law judge shall render to the Attorney General his recommendation that the proposed arrangement be approved or denied approval in accordance with the standards of the Act. The recommendation shall be in writing, shall be based solely on the hearing record, and shall include a statement of the administrative law judge's findings and conclusions, and the reasons or basis therefor, on all material issues of fact, law or discretion presented on the record. Copies of the recommendation shall be filed and sent to each party.

(e) Within 30 days of the date the administrative law judge files his recommendation, any party may file written exceptions to the recommendation for consideration by the Attorney General. Parties shall then have a further 15 days in which to file responses to any such exceptions.

§ 48.11 Intervention in hearings.

(a) Any person may intervene as a party in a hearing held under these regulations if (1) he has an interest which may be affected by the Attorney General's decision, and (2) it appears that his interest may not be adequately represented by existing parties.

(b) Application for intervention shall be made by filing in accordance with § 48.3(a) and (b), within 20 days after a hearing has been ordered, a statement of the nature of the applicant's interest, the way in which it may be affected, the facts and reasons in support thereof and the reasons why the applicant's interest may not be adequately represented by existing parties.

(c) Existing parties may file a statement in opposition to or in support of an application to intervene within 10 days of the filing of the application.

(d) Applications for intervention shall be decided by the Attorney General.

(e) Intervenors shall have the same rights as existing parties in connection with any hearing held under these regulations.

§ 48.12 Ex parte communications.

No person shall communicate on any matter related to these proceedings

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§48.15 Temporary approval.

(a) If the Attorney General concludes that one or more of the newspapers involved would otherwise fail before the procedures under these regulations can be completed, he may grant temporary approval of whatever form of joint or unified action would be lawful under the Act if performed as part of an approved joint newspaper operating arrangement, and that he concludes is: (1) Essential to the survival of the newspaper or newspapers; and (2) most likely capable of being terminated without impairment to the ability of both newspapers to resume independent operation should final approval eventually be denied.

(b) Upon the filing of a request for temporary approval, the applicants shall publish notice of such application on the front pages of their respective newspapers for a period of three consecutive days in the case of daily newspapers or in the next issue in the case of weekly newspapers. The notice shall state:

(1) That a request for temporary approval of a joint operating arrangement or other joint or unified action has been made to the Attorney General; and

(2) That anyone wishing to protest the application for temporary approval may do so by delivering a statement of protest or telephoning his views to an employee of the Department of Justice, whose name, address and telephone number shall be designated by the Department upon receipt of the application for temporary approval, and that such protests must be received by the Department within five days of the first publication of notice in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section.

(c) The notice required by this section shall be in addition to the notice required by § 48.6.

(d) Such temporary approval may be granted without hearing at any time following the expiration of the period provided for protests, but shall create no presumption that final approval will be granted.

§ 48.16 Procedure for filing of terms of a renewal or amendment to an existing joint newspaper operating arrangement.

Within 30 days after a renewal of or an amendment to the terms of an existing arrangement, the parties to said renewal or amendment shall file five copies of the agreement of renewal or amendment. In the case of an amendment, the parties shall also file copies of the amended portion of the original agreement.

[Order No. 558-73, 39 FR 7, Jan. 2, 1974, as amended by Order No. 568-74, 39 FR 18646, May 29, 1974]

PART 49-ANTITRUST CIVIL PROCESS ACT

Sec.

49.1 Purpose.

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$49.2 Duties of custodian.

(a) Upon taking physical possession of documentary material, answers to interrogatories, or transcripts of oral testimony delivered pursuant to a civil investigative demand issued under section 3(a) of the Act, the antitrust document custodian designated pursuant to section 4(a) of the Act (subject to the general supervision of the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division), shall, unless otherwise directed by a court of competent jurisdiction, select, from time to time, from among such documentary material, answers to interrogatories or transcripts of oral testimony, the documentary material, answers to interrogatories or transcripts of oral testimony the copying of which the custodian deems necessary or appropriate for the official use of the Department of Justice, and shall determine, from time to time, the number of copies of any such documentary material, answers to interrogatories or transcripts of oral testimony that are to be reproduced pursuant to the Act.

(b) Copies of documentary material, answers to interrogatories, or transcripts of oral testimony in the physical possession of the custodian pursuant to a civil investigative demand may be reproduced by or under the authority of any officer, employee, or agent of the Department of Justice designated by the custodian. Documentary material for which a civil investigative demand has been issued but which is still in the physical possession of the person upon whom the demand has

been served may, by agreement between such person and the custodian, be reproduced by such person, in which case the custodian may require that the copies so produced be duly certified as true copies of the original of the material involved.

[60 FR 44277, Aug. 25, 1995; 60 FR 61290, Nov. 29, 1995]

§49.3 Examination of the material.

Documentary material, answers to interrogatories, or transcripts of oral testimony produced pursuant to the Act, while in the custody of the custodian, shall be for the official use of officers, employees, and agents of the Department of Justice in accordance with the Act. Upon reasonable notice to the custodian

(a) Such documentary material or answers to interrogatories shall be made available for examination by the person who produced such documentary material or answers to interrogatories, or by any duly authorized representative of such person; and

(b) Such transcripts of oral testimony shall be made available for examination by the person who produced such testimony, or by such person's counsel, during regular office hours established for the Department of Justice. Examination of such documentary material, answers to interrogatories, or transcripts of oral testimony at other times may be authorized by the Assistant Attorney General or the custodian.

[60 FR 44277, Aug. 25, 1995; 60 FR 61290, Nov. 29, 1995]

$49.4 Deputy custodians.

Deputy custodians may perform such of the duties assigned to the custodian as may be authorized or required by the Assistant Attorney General.

PART 50-STATEMENTS OF POLICY

Sec.

50.2 Release of information by personnel of the Department of Justice relating to criminal and civil proceedings.

50.3 Guidelines for the enforcement of title VI, Civil Rights Act of 1964.

50.5 Notification of Consular Officers upon the arrest of foreign nationals.

50.6 Antitrust Division business review procedure.

50.7 Consent judgments in actions to enjoin discharges of pollutants.

50.8 [Reserved]

50.9 Policy with regard to open judicial proceedings.

50.10 Policy with regard to the issuance of subpoenas to members of the news media, subpoenas for telephone toll records of members of the news media, and the interrogation, indictment, or arrest of, members of the news media. 50.12 Exchange of FBI identification records.

50.14 Guidelines on employee selection procedures.

50.15 Representation of Federal officials and employees by Department of Justice attorneys or by private counsel furnished by the Department in civil, criminal, and congressional proceedings in which Federal employees are sued, subpoenaed, or charged in their individual capacities. 50.16 Representation of Federal employees by private counsel at Federal expense. 50.17 Ex parte communications in informal rulemaking proceedings.

50.18 [Reserved]

50.19 Procedures to be followed by government attorneys prior to filing recusal or disqualification motions.

50.20 Participation by the United States in court-annexed arbitration.

50.21 Procedures governing the destruction of contraband drug evidence in the custody of Federal law enforcement authorities.

50.22 Young American Medals Program.

AUTHORITY: 5 U.S.C. 301; 28 U.S.C. 509, 510; and 42 U.S.C. 1921 et seq., 1973c.

$50.2 Release of information by personnel of the Department of Justice relating to criminal and civil proceedings.

(a) General. (1) The availability to news media of information in criminal and civil cases is a matter which has become increasingly a subject of concern in the administration of justice. The purpose of this statement is to formulate specific guidelines for the release of such information by personnel of the Department of Justice.

(2) While the release of information for the purpose of influencing a trial is, of course, always improper, there are valid reasons for making available to the public information about the administration of the law. The task of striking a fair balance between the protection of individuals accused of crime or involved in civil proceedings with

the Government and public understandings of the problems of controlling crime and administering government depends largely on the exercise of sound judgment by those responsible for administering the law and by representatives of the press and other media.

(3) Inasmuch as the Department of Justice has generally fulfilled its responsibilities with awareness and understanding of the competing needs in this area, this statement, to a considerable extent, reflects and formalizes the standards to which representatives of the Department have adhered in the past. Nonetheless, it will be helpful in ensuring uniformity of practice to set forth the following guidelines for all personnel of the Department of Justice.

(4) Because of the difficulty and importance of the questions they raise, it is felt that some portions of the matters covered by this statement, such as the authorization to make available Federal conviction records and a description of items seized at the time of arrest, should be the subject of continuing review and consideration by the Department on the basis of experience and suggestions from those within and outside the Department.

(b) Guidelines to criminal actions. (1) These guidelines shall apply to the release of information to news media from the time a person is the subject of a criminal investigation until any proceeding resulting from such an investigation has been terminated by trial or otherwise.

(2) At no time shall personnel of the Department of Justice furnish any statement or information for the purpose of influencing the outcome of a defendant's trial, nor shall personnel of the Department furnish any statement or information, which could reasonably be expected to be disseminated by means of public communication, if such a statement or information may reasonably be expected to influence the outcome of a pending or future trial.

(3) Personnel of the Department of Justice, subject to specific limitations imposed by law or court rule or order, may make public the following information:

(1) The defendant's name, age, residence, employment, marital status, and similar background information.

(ii) The substance or text of the charge, such as a complaint, indictment, or information.

(iii) The identity of the investigating and/or arresting agency and the length or scope of an investigation.

(iv) The circumstances immediately surrounding an arrest, including the time and place of arrest, resistance, pursuit, possession and use of weapons, and a description of physical items seized at the time of arrest.

Disclosures should include only incontrovertible, factual matters, and should not include subjective observations. In addition, where background information or information relating to the circumstances of an arrest or investigation would be highly prejudicial or where the release thereof would serve no law enforcement function, such information should not be made public.

(4) Personnel of the Department shall not disseminate any information concerning a defendant's prior criminal record.

(5) Because of the particular danger of prejudice resulting from statements in the period approaching and during trial, they ought strenuously to be avoided during that period. Any such statement or release shall be made only on the infrequent occasion when circumstances absolutely demand a disclosure of information and shall include only information which is clearly not prejudicial.

(6) The release of certain types of information generally tends to create dangers of prejudice without serving a significant law enforcement function. Therefore, personnel of the Department should refrain from making available the following:

(1) Observations about a defendant's character.

(ii) Statements, admissions, confessions, or alibis attributable to a defendant, or the refusal or failure of the accused to make a statement.

(iii) Reference to investigative procedures such as fingerprints, polygraph

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