COURTS CANNOT TAKE JUDICIAL NOTICE OF FOREIGN LAWS:

As held in Garcia v. Recio, 418 Phil. 723, 723-735 (2001), divorce obtained abroad is proven by the divorce decree itself. Indeed the best evidence of a judgment is the judgment itself. The decree purports to be a written act or record of an act of an official body or tribunal of a foreign country. x x x x  It is well-settled in our jurisdiction that our courts cannot take judicial notice of foreign laws. Like any other facts, they must be alleged and proved. Australian marital laws are not among those matters that judges are supposed to know by reason of their judicial function. The power of judicial notice must be exercised with caution, and every reasonable doubt upon the subject should be resolved in the negative (MEROPE ENRIQUEZ VDA. DE CATALAN VS. LOUELLA A. CATALAN-LEE, G. R. NO. 183622, FEBRUARY 8, 2012, SERENO, J.).