[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 46, Volume 9]
[Revised as of October 1, 2006]

[CITE: 46CFR502.207]

[Page 60-61]
 
                           TITLE 46--SHIPPING
 
                 CHAPTER IV--FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION
 
PART 502_RULES OF PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE--Table of Contents
 
      Subpart L_Depositions, Written Interrogatories, and Discovery
 
Sec.  502.207  Requests for admission.

    (a)(1) A party may serve, pursuant to subpart H of this part, upon 
any other party a written request for the admission, for purposes of the 
pending action only, of the truth of any matters within the scope of 
Sec.  502.203(a) set forth in the request that relate to statements or 
opinions of fact or of the application of law to fact, including the 
genuineness of any documents described in the request. Copies of 
documents shall be served with the request unless they have been or are 
otherwise furnished or made available for inspection and copying. Any 
party desiring to serve a request as provided by this section must 
comply with the applicable provisions of Sec.  502.201.
    (2)(i) Each matter of which an admission is requested shall be 
separately set forth.
    (ii) The matter is admitted unless, within thirty (30) days after 
service of the request, or within such shorter or longer time as the 
presiding officer may allow pursuant to Sec.  502.201, the party to whom 
the request is directed serves upon the party requesting the admission a 
written answer or objection addressed to the matter, signed by the party 
or the party's attorney. If objection is made, the reasons therefor 
shall be stated. The answer shall specifically deny the matter or set 
forth in detail the reasons why the answering party cannot truthfully 
admit or deny the matter. A denial shall fairly meet the substance of 
the requested admission, and when good faith requires that a party 
qualify the answer or deny only a part of the matter of which an 
admission is requested, the party shall specify so much of it as is true 
and qualify or deny the remainder.
    (iii) An answering party may not give lack of information or 
knowledge as a reason for failure to admit or deny unless the party 
states that reasonable inquiry has been made and that the information 
known or readily obtainable is insufficient to enable the party to admit 
or deny. A party who considers that a matter of which an admission has 
been requested presents a genuine issue for trial may not, on that 
ground alone, object to the request; a party may, subject to the 
provisions of Sec.  502.207(c) deny the matter or set forth reasons why 
it cannot be admitted or denied.
    (3) The party who has requested admissions may request rulings on 
the sufficiency of the answers or objections. Rulings on such requests 
shall be issued at a conference called under Sec.  502.201(f) or, if 
circumstances warrant, by such other procedure as the presiding officer 
may establish. Unless the presiding officer determines that an objection 
is justified, the presiding officer shall order that an answer be 
served. If the presiding officer determines that an answer does not 
comply with the requirements of this rule, the presiding officer may 
order either that the matter is admitted or that an amended answer be 
served. The presiding officer may, in lieu of these orders, determine 
that final disposition of the request be made at a prehearing conference 
or at a designated time prior to hearing.
    (b) Effect of admission. Any matter admitted under this rule is 
conclusively established unless the presiding officer on motion permits 
withdrawal or amendment when the presentation of the merits of the 
action will be subserved thereby and the party who obtained the 
admission fails to satisfy the presiding officer that withdrawal or 
amendment will be prejudicial in maintaining the party's action or 
defense on the merits. Any admission made by a party under this rule is 
for the purpose of the pending proceeding only and is not an admission 
for any other purpose, nor may it be used against the party in any other 
proceeding.
    (c) Expenses on failure to admit. If a party fails to admit the 
genuineness of

[[Page 61]]

any document or the truth of any matter as requested under paragraph (a) 
of this section, and if the party requesting the admission thereafter 
proves the genuineness of the document or the truth of the matter, that 
party may apply to the presiding officer for an order requiring the 
other party to pay the reasonable expenses incurred in making that 
proof, including reasonable attorney's fees. Such application must be 
made to the presiding officer before issuance of the initial decision in 
the proceeding. The presiding officer shall make the order unless it is 
found that:
    (1) The request was held objectionable pursuant to paragraph (a) of 
this section, or
    (2) The admission sought was of no substantial importance, or
    (3) The party failing to admit had reasonable ground to believe that 
it might prevail on the matter, or
    (4) There was other good reason for the failure to admit. [Rule 
207.]