Denial of Foreign Judgment

GROUNDS FOR DENIAL OF FOREIGN DECREE OF
DIVORCE
There are abundant of Honorable Supreme Court decisions uttering

that the courts cannot take judicial notice of a foreign judgment considering
that the petitioner needs to prove the judgment as a fact under the Rules of
Court. Likewise, a copy of the foreign judgment may be admitted in
evidence and proven as a fact under Rule 132, Sections 24 and 25, in
relation to Rule 39, Section 48 (b) of the Rules of Court.1
Furthermore, in case of the effect of the recognition of the foreign

judgment, the Rules of Court provides that such judgment upon a specific
thing leads to the conclusiveness upon the title to the thing. At the same
time, the judgments against a person results to a presumption of a right as
between the parties and their successors in interest by a subsequent title.2
Foreign divorce decree acquired by an alien spouse to a mixed

marriage similarly belongs to this category.
However, the Rules of Court and the Jurisprudence do not only focus
regarding the concept of recognition and its effect thereafter. The Rules of
Court and the Honorable Supreme Court, through its decisions, provided
grounds for the denial of the recognition of foreign judgments; including the
recognition of foreign decree of divorce.
Firstly, the Rules of Court offers grounds for the denial of a foreign
judgment, including the foreign decree of divorce. Thus, under Section 48,
Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, it is provided that:
Sec. 48. Effect of foreign judgments or final orders. –
xxx
In either case, the judgment or final order may be repelled by

evidence of a want of jurisdiction, want of notice to the party,
collusion, fraud, or clear mistake of law or fact.3
1 Fujiki vs. Marinay et al., G.R. No. 196049, June 26, 2013
2 Sec. 48, Rule 39 of the Rules of Court.
3 Ibid.
1
Secondly, the Honorable Court supplemented the grounds for the
denial of a foreign decree of divorce by declaring that decree of divorce
obtained a Filipino citizen shall not be valid in the Philippines considering
the prohibition implied under Article 15 of the New Civil Code. Thus, the
Honorable Court ruled in Llorente v. Court of Appeals4, to wit:
In Van Dorn v. Romillo, Jr. we held that owing to the nationality

principle embodied in Article 15 of the Civil Code, only Philippine
nationals are covered by the policy against absolute divorces, the same
being considered contrary to our concept of public policy and morality. In
the same case, the Court ruled that aliens may obtain divorces abroad,
provided they are valid according to their national law.
Thirdly, the Honorable Court declared that the foreign decree of

divorce may be recognized provided that the decree is in accord with the
national law of the alien spouse who obtained the said divorce decree. It was
further ruled that the presentation solely of the divorce decree is insufficient,
as both the divorce decree and the governing personal law of the alien
spouse who obtained the divorce must be proven.5
Lastly, the Honorable Court limited the scope of the benefit of Art. 26
of the Family Code in the sense that only the Filipino spouse can invoke
such benefit; which amongst others include the judicial recognition of
foreign divorce decree. Thus the Court ruled in Corpuz v. Sto. Tomas and
the Solicitor General, to wit:
As the RTC correctly stated, the provision was included in the law
to avoid the absurd situation where the Filipino spouse remains married to
the alien spouse who, after obtaining a divorce, is no longer married to the
Filipino spouse. The legislative intent is for the benefit of the Filipino
spouse, by clarifying his or her marital status, settling the doubts created
by the divorce decree. Essentially, the second paragraph of Article 26
of the Family Code provided the Filipino spouse a substantive right to
have his or her marriage to the alien spouse considered as dissolved,
capacitating him or her to remarry. Without the second paragraph of
4 Llorente v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 124371, November 23, 2000

5 Ando v. Department of Foreign Affairs, G.R. No. 195432, August 27, 2014
2
Article 26 of the Family Code, the judicial recognition of the foreign
decree of divorce, whether in a proceeding instituted precisely for that
purpose or as a related issue in another proceeding, would be of no
significance to the Filipino spouse since our laws do not recognize divorce
as a mode of severing the marital bond; Article 17 of the Civil Code
provides that the policy against absolute divorces cannot be subverted by
judgments promulgated in a foreign country. The inclusion of the second
paragraph in Article 26 of the Family Code provides the direct exception
to this rule and serves as basis for recognizing the dissolution of the
marriage between the Filipino spouse and his or her alien spouse.
Additionally, an action based on the second paragraph of Article

26 of the Family Code is not limited to the recognition of the foreign
divorce decree. If the court finds that the decree capacitated the alien
spouse to remarry, the courts can declare that the Filipino spouse is
likewise capacitated to contract another marriage. No court in this
jurisdiction, however, can make a similar declaration for the alien spouse
(other than that already established by the decree), whose status and legal
capacity are generally governed by his national law.
Given the rationale and intent behind the enactment, and the
purpose of the second paragraph of Article 26 of the Family Code, the
RTC was correct in limiting the applicability of the provision for the
benefit of the Filipino spouse. In other words, only the Filipino spouse
can invoke the second paragraph of Article 26 of the Family Code; the
alien spouse can claim no right under this provision.

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GROUNDS FOR DENIAL OF FOREIGN DECREE OF

There are abundant of Honorable Supreme Court decisions uttering

Furthermore, in case of the effect of the recognition of the foreign

Foreign divorce decree acquired by an alien spouse to a mixed

Sec. 48. Effect of foreign judgments or final orders. –

In either case, the judgment or final order may be repelled by

In Van Dorn v. Romillo, Jr. we held that owing to the nationality

Thirdly, the Honorable Court declared that the foreign decree of

4 Llorente v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 124371, November 23, 2000

Additionally, an action based on the second paragraph of Article

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