(a) The Judicial Officer may censure, suspend or disbar any person against whom a complaint has been made and upon whom charges have been served as provided in §951.5 if he finds that such person:

(1) Does not possess the qualifications required by §951.2;

(2) Has failed to conform to standards of ethical conduct required of practitioners at the Bar of any court of which he is a member;

(3) Represents, as an associate, an attorney who, known to him, solicits practice by means of runners or other unethical methods;

(4) By use of his name, personal appearance, or any device, aids or abets an attorney to practice during the period of his suspension or disbarment, such suspension or disbarment being known to him;

(5) Displays toward the Judicial Officer, Board of Contract Appeals or any Administrative Law Judge assigned to the Postal Service, conduct which, if displayed toward any court of any State, the United States, any of its Territories or the District of Columbia, would be cause for censure, suspension or disbarment; or

(6) Is otherwise guilty of misconduct or lacking in character or professional integrity.

(b) Before any person shall be censured, suspended or disbarred, he shall be afforded an opportunity to be heard by the Judicial Officer on the charges made against him. The General Counsel or his designee shall prosecute such cases.

(c) In the event the Judicial Officer is unavailable for any reason, he may assign complaints of misconduct to the Associate Judicial Officer, an Administrative Law Judge appointed pursuant to the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, an Administrative Judge appointed pursuant to the provisions of the Contract Disputes Act of 1978, or some other disinterested member of the headquarters staff of the Postal Service recommended by the Deputy Postmaster General, for the determinations required by §951.5, the conduct of the hearings, and the decision to censure, suspend, or debar persons as provided herein.

[36 FR 11562, June 16, 1971, as amended at 51 FR 16517, May 5, 1986]