XAVIER UNIVERSITY ATENEO DE CAGAYAN

COLLEGE OF LAW

EVIDENCE
WRITTEN REPORT
Group 3:
BATAC, Karlo Gonzalo G.
BIRUAR, Ariff Adam M.
BUCAY, Diannour N.
BUCTUAN, Faizal June T.
BUHISAN, Jay Patrick R.

Submitted to:

Justice Edgardo Lloren

Topics: 1. Judicial notice and judicial admission, distinguished. (a) What need not be proved; (b)
What are matters of judicial notice; (c) What are judicial admissions; and (1) Effect of judicial
admissions; (d) How admissions may be contradicted; and (e) Rules on judicial notice of foreign
laws, law of nations and municipal ordinance.
The Judge in trying a case sees only with judicial eyes as he ought to know nothing
about the facts of the case, except those which have been judicially adjudged in evidence.
Thus, when the case is up for trial, the judicial head is empty as to facts involved and it is
incumbent upon the litigants to the action to establish by evidence the facts upon which
they rely.

- Justice Regino Hermosisima Jr., Lopez vs. Sandiganbayan, 249 SCRA 28.

GENERAL RULE:
The truth as a matter of fact in a judicial proceeding is what the Court only sees judicially
xxx. The Court knows nothing respecting any particular case of which he is not informed
judicially.1 The Court shall consider no evidence which has not been formally offered.
The purpose for which the evidence is offered must be specified. (Sec. 35, Rule 132)

Exceptions:
Facts judicially noticed by the court. The principle of judicial notice states that what is
known need not be proved. (20 Am. Jur. 48; Vide Lopez vs. Sandiganbayan, supra)

Judicial Admissions or admissions in pleadings filed in court. Judicial admissions are

conclusive and no evidence need be presented to prove an agreement that has been
admitted. (Solivio vs. CA, 182 SCRA 119 (1990))

1. DISTINGUISH JUDICIAL NOTICE AND JUDICIAL ADMISSIONS (Rule 129)

- Generally, both do not require proof.

JUDICIAL NOTICE JUDICIAL ADMISSION

Define Define

The cognizance of certain facts which An admission made in the course of the
judges may properly take and act on proceedings in the same case, verbal or
without proof because they are already written by a part accepting for the purpose
known to him. of the suit the truth of some alleged fact,
which said party cannot thereafter
disprove. (Sec. 4 Rule 129)

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Am. Jur. 46-47

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Object/Purpose/Principle for which it is based

To save time, labor and expenses. It is based on expediency and convenience.

How made? How made?

A. Mandatory A. Filed and formally offered in evidence

A court shall take judicial notice, without 1. Admissions obtained through

the introduction of evidence, of the
existence and territorial extent of states,
their political history, forms of government
and symbols of nationality, the law of
depositions (Rule 24)
2. Written interrogatories (Rule 25)
3. Requests for admission (Rule 26)

nations, the admiralty and maritime courts B. Need not be presented formally in
of the world and their seals, the political evidence
constitution and history of the Philippines,
1. Admitted facts
the official acts of legislative, executive
and judicial departments of the Philippines,
the laws of nature, the measure of time, and
the geographical divisions. (sec. 1, rule
129)

B. Discretionary

A court may take judicial notice of matters

which are of public knowledge, or are
capable to unquestionable demonstration,
or ought to be known to judges because of
their judicial functions.

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By Whom Made? By Whom Made?

A. By the court A. By the parties themselves

B. By the counsel under the principle of

agency:

exceptions: In civil cases

1. when the admission amounts to a

surrender, waiver, or destruction of
the clients cause;

2. if the compromise is for an amount

less than that demanded by the
client;

3. those which are due to the gross

and inexcusable ignorance or
negligence of counsel.

exceptions: In criminal case

The authority of an attorney to bind his

client as to any admissibility of fact is
limited to matters of judicial procedure but
not to admissions which operate as a
waiver, surrender or destruction of the
clients cause.

Basic distinction: Basic Distinction:

Adjudicative facts - those facts related to Verbal

the case under consideration and which
Written
may affect the outcome thereof.

Legislative facts - those facts which relate

either to: (i) the existence of a law or legal
principle (ii) the reason, purpose or
philosophy behind the law or of a legal
principle as formulated by the legislature or
the court (iii) the law or principle itself.

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Sources: Sources of Judicial Admissions:

A. Provided by law A. Voluntary Admissions

i. Mandatory 1. Admissions contained in the allegations

in the pleadings
a. existence and territorial extent of
states 2. Admissions and Stipulations made
b. their political history during the Preliminary Conference and/or
c. forms of government Pre-Trial which are reduced into writing
d. symbols of nationality and signed by the party and his counsel.
e. the law of nations - It is well-settled
3. Admissions and stipulations made
that foreign laws do not prove
during the course of the trial itself, which
themselves in our jurisdiction and our
need not be reduced in writing
courts are not authorized to take
judicial notice of them. Like any 4. Compromise agreements, which thus can
other fact, they must be alleged and be the basis of a judgment which is
proved. immediately executory.

f. the admiralty and maritime courts of 5. Admissions by way of responses or

the world and their seals answers to requests for admissions or
g. the political constitution and history interrogatories pursuant to Rule 26 (Modes
of the Philippines of Discovery)
h. the official acts of legislative,
executive and judicial departments of
the Philippines B. Involuntary Admissions: those where it

i. the laws of nature, is the law which declares that a party is

j. the measure of time deemed to have admitted a fact.

k. the geographical divisions

ii. Discretionary

a. Those which are of public

knowledge
b. Those which are capable of
unquestionable demonstration and
c. Matters ought to be known to
judges because of their judicial
functions.

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Other: Other:

Limitations - Effect of Judicial Admissions -

The taking of judicial notice maybe abused A. Upon the party making the admission:
and might unfairly favor a party who is The party making the admission is bound
unable to prove a material point. by it. The admission is conclusive as to
Conversely the non-taking notice of a fact him. He will not be permitted to introduce
might unduly burden a party where proof is evidence which will vary, contradict or
not readily available or impossible to deny the fact he has admitted.
obtain and proof thereof is unnecessary, but
B. Upon the opposite party: He need not
still the court refuses to take notice of the
introduce any evidence on the matter which
fact.
was admitted.
A. As to what may be taken notice of:

the matter must be one covered by section

1 or is authorized under Section 2 of Rule
129.

B. As to the procedure:

there must be a prior hearing pursuant to

Section 3.

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 A. What need not be proved

1. Those which the courts may take judicial notice (Rule 129);
2. Those that are judicially admitted (Rule 129);
3. Those that are conclusively presumed (Rule 131); and
4. Those that are disputably presumed but uncontradicted (Rule 131).

B. What are matters of judicial notice

Judicial Notice Defined

It is the cognizance of certain facts which judges may properly take and act upon
without proof because they are supposed to be known to them. It is based on
considerations of expediency and convenience. It displaces evidence, being
equivalent to proof.

1. Mandatory judicial notice

A court shall take judicial notice, without the introduction of evidence, of:

a. the existence and territorial extent of states;

b. their political history, forms of government and symbols of nationality;
c. the law of nations;
d. the admiralty and maritime courts of the world and their seals;
e. the political constitution and history of the Philippines;
f. the official acts of legislative, executive and judicial departments of the Philippines;
g. the laws of nature;
h. the measure of time; and
i. the geographical divisions. (sec. 1, rule 129)

Note: it would be an error for the court not to take judicial notice of an
amendment to the Rules of Court (Siena Realty v. Gal-lang, 428 scra 422).

2. Discretionary judicial notice

A court may take judicial notice of matters which are of:

a. public knowledge; or
b. are capable to unquestionable demonstration; or
c. ought to be known to judges because of their judicial functions. (sec. 2, rule 129)

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 Requisites:

For the court to take judicial notice, three material requisites must be present:

a. The matter must be one of common and general knowledge;

b. It must be well and authoritatively settled and not doubtful or uncertain;
c. It must be known to be within the limits of the jurisdiction of the court. (State
prosecutors v. Muro, A.M No. RTJ-92-876, September 19, 1994)
Judicial notice is not judicial knowledge. The mere personal knowledge of the
judge is not the judicial knowledge of the court, and he is not authorized to
make his individual knowledge of a fact, not generally or professionally
known, the basis of his action. Judicial cognizance is taken only of those
matters which are commonly known. (State prosecutors v. Muro, supra)

When hearing necessary

During the trial, the court, on its own initiative, or on request of a party, may
announce its intention to take judicial notice of any matter and allow the parties to
be heard thereon.

After the trial, and before judgment or on appeal, the proper court, on its own
initiative or on request of a party, may take judicial notice of any matter and allow
the parties to be heard thereon if such matter is decisive of a material issue in the
case. (sec. 3, rule 129)

With respect to Courts own acts and records

A court may take judicial notice of its own acts and records in the same case, of
facts established in prior proceedings in the same case, of the authenticity of its
own records of another case between the same parties, of the files of related cases
in the same court, and of public records on file in the same court. (Republic v.
Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 119288, August 18, 1997)

With respect to records of other cases

General Rule: Courts are not authorized to take judicial notice of the contents or
records of other cases even if both cases may have been tried or are pending
before the same judge. (Prieto v. Arroyo, G.R. No. L-17885, June 30, 1965)

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 Exceptions: In the absence of objection, and as a matter of convenience to all
parties, a court may properly treat all or any part of the original of a case filed in
its archives as read into the record of a case pending before it, when:

a. With the knowledge of the opposing party, reference is made to it for that
purpose, by name and number or in some other manner by which it is
sufficiently designated; or
b. The original record of the former case or any part of it, is actually withdrawn
from the archives by the courts direction, at the request or with the consent of
the parties, and admitted as a part of the record of the case then pending.

C. What are Judicial Admissions?

Section 4. Judicial Admissions. An admission, verbal or written, made by the

party in the course of the proceedings in the same case, does not require proof. The
admission may be contradicted only by showing that it was made through palpable
mistake or that no such admission was made.

To be a judicial admission, the following elements must be considered [Riano, p. 171]:

1. Must be made by a party to the case;

2. Must be made in the course of the proceedings in the same case, and;
- An admission made in another judicial proceeding will not be deemed a
judicial admission in another case where the admission was not made.
Instead, it will be considered an extrajudicial admission for the purpose of
the other proceedings where such admission is offered.

3. May be verbal or written.

- A party may make judicial admissions in (a) the pleadings; (b) during the
trial, either by verbal or written manifestations or stipulations; or (c) in
other stages of the judicial proceeding [Philippine Charter Insurance
Corporation v. Central Colleges of the Philippines, 666 SCRA 540, 553,
February 22, 2012].

Notes:

Averments in pleadings which are not deemed admissions [Riano, p. 173]

o Conclusions
o Non-ultimate facts
o Amount of unliquidated damages

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 Admissions made during a pre-trial
o Civil Cases Deemed judicial admissions because they are made in the
course of the proceedings of the case

o Criminal Cases Not necessarily admissible. To be admissible, Sec. 2 of

Rule 118 must be complied with.

Implied admissions
o Implied admissions of actionable documents
When an action or defense is founded upon a written instrument,
the genuineness and due execution of the same instrument shall be
deemed admitted unless the adverse party, under oath, specifically
denies them and sets forth what he claims to be the facts [Sec. 8,
Rule 8, Rules of Court].

o Implied admissions in the modes of discovery

A party to whom a request for admission by the other party is
directed must file and serve upon the party requesting the
admission, a sworn statement either denying specifically the
matters of which an admission is requested or setting forth in detail
the reasons why he cannot truthfully either admit or deny those
matters [Riano, p. 178].

i. Effect of judicial admissions

- It does not require proof. [Sec. 4, Rule 129]

- It is an established principle that judicial admissions cannot be contradicted by

the admitter who is the party himself and binds the person who makes the
same, absent any showing that this was made through palpable mistake, no
amount of rationalization can offset it [Philippine Charter Insurance
Corporation v. Central Colleges of the Philippines, 666 SCRA 540, 553,
February 22, 2012; De la Pea v. Avila, 665 SCRA 553, 567, February 8,
2012].

A party who judicially admits a fact cannot later challenge that fact as judicial
admissions are a waiver of proof; production of evidence is dispensed with.
[Alfelor v. Halasan, G.R. No. 165987 (2006)]

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 D. How admissions may be contradicted

As an exception to the general rule, judicial admissions may be contradicted by showing

that:

1. It was made through palpable mistake (Sec. 4, Rule 129); or

2. No such admission was made (Sec. 4, Rule 129). This may be invoked when the
statement of the party is taken out of context or that his statement was made not in
the sense it is made to appear by the other party.
3. To prevent manifest injustice. (e.g. Pre-trial in civil cases, Sec. 7, Rule 118)

E. Rules on Judicial notice of foreign laws, law of nations and municipal ordinance

Foreign Laws

General Rule: Courts cannot take judicial notice of foreign laws. They must be alleged
and proved as any other fact. (Yao-Kee vs. Sy-Gonzales, G.R. No. L-55960)

Exceptions:

1. When there is no controversy among the parties as to the existence and provision
of the foreign law;

2. When the foreign law has been previously ruled upon the court as to have
acquired actual knowledge of it;

3. The foreign law has been previously applied in the Philippines;

4. The foreign law is the source of the Philippine Law;

5. When the foreign law is a treaty in which the Philippines is a signatory it being
part of the Public International Law;

6. Common law;

7. Stipulation by the parties.

Law of Nations

The Philippines adopts the generally accepted principles of international law as part of
the law of the land. (Sec.2 Art. II, 1987 Constitution)

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Municipal Ordinances

Municipal Trial Courts are required to take judicial notice of the ordinances of the
municipality or city wherein they sit.

However, in the case of Regional Trial Courts, they must take such judicial notice only:

1. When required to do so by statute;

All courts sitting in the City of Manila shall take judicial notice of the
ordinances by the Municipal Board.
2. In a case of appeal before them wherein the inferior court took judicial notice of
an ordinance involved in said case. (Only to determine the propriety of taking
such notice)

Appellate Courts may also take judicial notice of municipal and city ordinances not only
where the lower courts took judicial notice because these facts are capable of
unquestionable demonstration.

-end-

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