General Rules of Procedure

SEC. 3. Service of petition.

Service shall be made upon the United States as follows:

By sending 15 copies of the printed petition or four copies of the typed petition by certified or registered mail (return receipt requested) to the Attorney General of the United States at Washington, D. C. 20530. Service by mail is complete upon mailing. The return receipt shall be delivered to the Clerk of the Commission to be filed in the case.

(a) Service--(1) When required. Every order required by its terms to be served, every pleading subsequent to the original petition, every written motion other than one which may be heard ex parte, and every written notice, appearance, demand, offer of judgment, designation of record on appeal, and similar papers shall be served upon each of the parties affected thereby, but no service need be made on parties in default for failure to appear, except that pleadings asserting new or additional claims for relief shall be served in the manner provided for in Sec. 3.

(2) How made. Whenever under the rules in this part service is required or permitted to be made upon a party represented by an attorney the service shall be made upon the attorney of record (provided for in this paragraph) unless service upon the party himself is ordered by the Commission. Service upon the attorney of record or upon a party shall be made by delivering a copy to him or by mailing it to him at his address registered with the Clerk as required by Sec. 35. Delivery of a copy within the provisions of this section means: Handing it to the attorney or to the party; or leaving it at his office with his clerk or other person in charge thereof; or, if there is no one in charge, leaving it in a conspicuous place therein; or, if the office is closed or the person to be served has no office, leaving it at his dwelling house or usual place of abode with some person of suitable age and discretion then residing therein. Service by mail is complete upon mailing.

(b) Proof of service--(1) File before taking action. Proof of serv ice of papers required or permitted to be served, other than those for which a method of proof is prescribed by the Federal rules of civil procedure, shall be filed before action is to be taken thereon.

(2) Form of. The proof shall show the time and manner of service, and may be by written acknowledgment of service, by affidavit of the person making service, by certificate of a member of the bar of this Commission, or by other proof satisfactory to the Commission.

(3) Failure to make.

not affect the validity thereof.

Failure to make proof of service will The Commission may at any time allow the proof to be amended or supplied, unless to do so would result in material prejudice to a party.

(c) Filing. All papers after the petition required to be served upon a party shall be filed with the Commission either before service or within a reasonable time thereafter.

(d) Filing with the Commission defined. The filing of pleadings and other papers with the Commission as required by the rules in this part shall be made by filing them with the Clerk of the Commission, except that a Commissioner or Examiner when a claim is being heard by him may permit the papers to be filed with him, in which event he shall note thereon the filing date and forthwith transmit them to the office of the Clerk.

SEC. 5. Time.

(a) Computation. In computing any period of time prescribed or allowed by the rules in this part by order of the Commission, Commissioner or Examiner or by any applicable statute, the day of the act, event, or default after which the designated period of time begins to run is not to be included. The last day of the period so computed is to be included, unless it is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday in the District of Columbia, in which event the period runs until the end of the next day upon which the Commission is open for business. As used in these rules, "legal holiday" includes New Year's Day, Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and any other day appointed as a holiday by the President or the Congress of the United States. (As amended Pub. L. 90-363, § 1(a), June 28, 1968, 82 Stat. 250)

When the period of time prescribed or allowed is less than 7 days, intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and holidays shall be excluded in the computation.

(b) Enlargement. When by the rules in this part or by a notice given thereunder or by order of the Commission an act is required or allowed to be done at or within a specified time, the Commission, or a Commissioner or Examiner in a case being heard by him, or by stipulation of the parties, for cause shown may at any time in its or his discretion (1) with or without motion or notice order the period enlarged if request therefor is made before the expiration of the period originally prescribed or as extended by a previous order or (2) upon motion made after the expiration of the specified period permit the act to be done where the failure to act was the result of excusable neglect.

(c) For motions; affidavits. A written motion, other than one which may be heard ex parte, and notice of the hearing thereof shall be served not later than 5 days before the time specified for the hearing, unless a different period is fixed by the rules in this part or by order of the Commission. Such an order may for cause shown be made on ex parte application. When a motion is supported by affidavit, the affidavit shall be served with the motion; opposing affidavits may be served not later than 1 day before the hearing, unless the Commission permits them to be served at some other time.

(d) Additional time after service by mail. Whenever a party has the right or is required to do some act or take some proceedings within a prescribed period after the service of a notice or other paper upon him and the notice or paper is served upon him by mail, 3 days shall be added to the prescribed period.

SEC. 6. Pleadings allowed, form of motions.

(a) Pleadings. There shall be a petition and an answer; and there shall be a reply to a counterclaim denominated as such. No other pleading shall be allowed, except that the Commission may order a reply to an

answer.

(b) Motions and other papers. (1) An application to the Commission for an order shall be by motion which, unless made during a hearing or trial, shall be made in writing, shall state with particularity the grounds therefor, and shall set forth the relief or order sought. The requirement of writing is fulfilled if the motion is stated in a written notice of the hearing of the motion.

(2) The rules applicable to captions, signing, and other matters of form of pleadings apply to all motions and other papers provided for by the rules in this part.

(3) A motion for an extension of time within which to comply with any rule or order of the Commission shall, in addition to stating the grounds therefor, also set forth any previous requests by the movant for an extension of time for the same purpose and the action taken by the Commission thereon.

SEC. 7. General rules of pleading.

(a) Pleading to be concise and direct; consistency. (1) Each averment of a pleading shall be simple, concise and direct. No technical forms of pleading or motions are required. Averments in a pleading to which no responsive pleading is required or permitted shall be taken as denied or avoided.

(2) A party may set forth two or more statements of a claim or defense alternatively or hypothetically, either in one count or defense or in separate counts or defenses. When two or more statements are made in the alternative and one of them, if made independently, would be sufficient, the pleading is not made insufficient by the insufficiency of one or more of the alternative statements. A party may also state as many separate claims or defenses as he has, regardless of consistency and regardless of the nature of the grounds on which they are based. All statements shall be made subject to the obligations set forth in Sec. 10 (b).

(b)

Statement of petition. A petition shall state with particularity. (1) Any action on the claim previously taken by Congress or by any department of the Government or in any judicial proceeding and whether the claim or any part thereof is included in any suit pending in the Court of Claims or in the Supreme Court of the United States or whether the same has been filed in the Court of Claims under any legislation in effect on the date of the approval of the Indian Claims Commission Act.

(2) If the claim or defense is founded upon an act of Congress or upon the regulation of an executive department or independent establishment, the act and the section thereof on which the pleader relies shall be specified and the particular regulation of the department or independent establishment stated, and a copy of such regulation attached to the petition.

(3) If the claim or defense is founded on a contract or treaty with the United States or an Executive order of the President the substance of the same shall be set forth in the petition; if in writing, the original or a copy thereof shall be annexed thereto. All parts immaterial to the claim or defense or to the relief sought may be omitted.

as to do substantial justice.

(a) Petitions filed by any tribal organization recognized by the Secretary of the Interior as having authority to represent a tribe, band or group need not aver the capacity of such organization to sue except to the extent required to show the jurisdiction of the Commission. When the United States desires to raise an issue as to the capacity of such a recognized tribal organization to sue, it shall do so by specific negative averments, which shall include supporting particulars.

(b) If a petition is filed by one or more members of a tribe, band or other identifiable group having a tribal organization which is recognized by the Secretary of the Interior because the tribal organization has failed or refused to take any action authorized by the act, the petition shall be verified and shall aver that the petitioner is a member of the tribe, band or group. The petitioner shall also set forth with particularity the efforts of the petitioner to secure from the duly constituted and recognized officers of said tribal organization such action as he desires and the reasons for his failure to obtain such action (such as fraud, collusion or laches) or the reasons for not making such effort.

(c) Petitions filed by one or more members on behalf of an unorganized tribe, band or other identifiable group shall be verified and shall aver (1) that the petitioner or plaintiffs are members of the tribe, band or group (2) a description of the unorganized tribe, band or group of sufficient comprehension to identify the tribe, band or group on whose behalf the petition is filed.

SEC. 9. Form of pleadings and motions.

(a) Caption; identification of moving party. Every pleading, motion in writing, and other paper filed with the Commission shall contain a caption setting forth the name of the Commission, the title of the action, the docket number, and a designation of what it is, e.g., "Answer", "Plaintiff's Motion to Strike Paragraph III of Answer", "Defendant's Motion for Extension of Time within Which to File Requested Findings of Fact". The designation shall clearly show which party, whether plaintiff or defendant, is filing the paper. In pleadings, motions, and other papers filed subsequently to the petition the title of the case may be abbreviated. Where cases have been consolidated, the docket numbers of each case included in the consolidation shall be shown; and the designation shall show which particular party is filing the paper and which other party it is applicable to, e.g., "Plaintiff Doe Tribe's Response to Plaintiff Roe Tribe's Motion for Summary Judgment".

(b) Paragraphs; separate statements. All averments of claims or defenses shall be made in numbered paragraphs, the contents of each of

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