Amendments to Rule 39, Rule 131, and Rule 132 of the Rules of Court in Relation to Foreign Divorces (Re: Proposed Rule on Recognition of Foreign Divorce or Judgment of Nullity or Annulment of Marriage)

3R-epublic .of tlJe t)IJilippines $>Upreme ([ourt ~aguio QCitp EN BANC A.M. No. 25-03-14-SC (Re: Proposed Rule on Recognition of Foreign Divorce or Judgment of Nullity or Annulment of Marriage) RESOLUTION WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 5(5), Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution, the Supreme Court is vested with the power to promulgate rules concerning pleading, practice, and procedure in all courts, the admission to the practice of law, the Integrated Bar, and legal assistance to the underprivileged; WHEREAS, among the objectives of the Supreme Court's Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations is to improve the public's access to justice; WHEREAS, the Court recognizes that proof of foreign law in cases involving Article 26(2) of the Family Code is required only to establish that the foreign divorce is absolute, or has the effect of capacitating the foreign spouse to remarry; WHEREAS, the principle of comity of nations and the presumption of validity of a foreign judgment under Section 48, Rule 39 of the Rules of Court place the burden of repelling the foreign judgment on the adverse party; WHEREAS, the Court recognized the need to mitigate the time, effort, and costs required for a Filipino spouse to prove foreign laws on divorce in relation to judicial recognition proceedings involving Article 26(2) of the Family Code, in line with the Court's objective of improving access to justice; WHEREAS, the Court constituted a Sub-Technical Working Group on the Concerns of Overseas Filipino W okers Regarding the Recognition of Foreign Divorce Decrees/Reports (Sub-TWG) under the Committee on Family Courts and Juvenile Concerns Technical Working Group (TWG) to study and recommend measures to address this issue, among other things;