Current through November, 2024
Section 4-1-46 - Depositions(a) Upon application of a party to any proceeding, the board or hearing officer, at any time after the filing of a complaint, may order the taking of testimony by oral deposition or by deposition upon written interrogatories.(b) Any party desiring to take the deposition of a witness shall make application in writing to the board or the hearing officer giving reasons why a deposition should be taken, together with the following: (1) The character of the deposition;(2) The time and place the deposition is to be taken;(3) The name and address of the person before whom the deposition will be taken;(4) The name and address of each witness; and(5) The subject matter upon which a witness is expected to testify.(c) Upon approval of an application for the taking of testimony by deposition, a deposition may be taken before any person having power to administer oaths other than the person designated in the notice, provided written notice is given to all parties concerned.(d) Each witness testifying shall be duly sworn. The adverse party shall have the right to cross-examine the witness.(e) The questions propounded to the witness and the answers thereto shall be reduced to writing and, in the presence of the person taking the deposition, read to and subscribed by the witness and certified in the usual form by the person taking the deposition. The person taking the deposition shall forward the original and two copies of the deposition to the board at its office in Honolulu, Hawaii.(f) A deposition ordered and taken in accordance with this section may be used in any proceedings if the board or the hearing officer finds that the evidence is otherwise admissible and that: (1) The witness is dead; or(2) The witness is outside the State, unless it appears that the absence of the witness is procured by the party offering the deposition; or(3) The witness is unable to attend or testify because of age, sickness, infirmity, or imprisonment; or(4) The party offering the deposition has endeavored and been unable to procure the attendance of the witness by subpoena; or(5) Exceptional circumstances exist to make it desirable to allow the deposition to be used.(g) If any part of a deposition is put in evidence by a party, any other party may require the production of the remainder or any other portion of the deposition.[Eff SEP 20 1986] (Auth: HRS § 91-2) (Imp: HRS § 91-2)