P.R. Laws tit. 1, § 154

2019-02-20 00:00:00+00
§ 154. Bylaws

The Commission shall formulate the necessary bylaws for the carrying out of its functions, as established in this chapter. Said bylaws shall make the necessary provisions for the fulfillment of the following procedural requirements:

(1) The holding of public hearings at least twice a year.

(2) Notices for public hearings shall be published ten days in advance in two newspapers of general circulation, and shall set forth in detail the purposes of and the business to be considered at such hearings.

(3) At the opening of the hearings in each city, the chairman shall explain the ends and purposes and the norms of the Commission. Each participant shall be furnished with a copy of the rules of procedure governing the hearings.

(4) All oral testimony shall be heard in public meetings except that when the Commission shall consider that the evidence or testimony to be presented at a hearing may tend to discredit, degrade or incriminate any person, it may then choose to receive said testimony in an executive meeting. The Commission, in rendering its report on the matter, may make public any testimony or evidence received in the executive meeting.

(5) Each witness may, if he so deems it convenient, be assisted by counsel. He shall also have the right not to be photographed without his consent; to be examined by his attorney within the norms of the hearing, and the application thereof by the chairman; to review the transcription of his testimony for exactness and to copy said transcription; to submit in writing brief sworn statements for the record of the hearing.

(6) If the Commission determines that any evidence tends to discredit or incriminate any person, it shall afford said person opportunity to appear in person or in writing.

(7) The Commission shall determine the other rules of procedure for the public hearings, including those that refer to the admissibility of evidence and to the exclusion of persons who violate the standards of respect and decorum that must prevail in a hearing.

History —June 28, 1965, No. 102, p. 267, § 4, eff. July 1, 1965.