SC reiterates fact of divorce, law must be proven to recognize foreign divorce

For a petition for judicial recognition of foreign divorce to prosper, the Supreme Court reiterated that the fact of divorce as well as the national law of the foreign spouse on divorce must be proven.

In a 10-page decision promulgated on June 22, the High Court granted the petition for review on certiorari assailing the 2018 decision of the Court of Appeals which recognized the divorce between respondent Jocelyn Asusano Kikuchi and Fumio Kikuchi.

The Court remanded the case to the San Pedro Regional Trial Court Branch 93 for further proceedings and reception of evidence on Japanese law on divorce.

The Court ruled that while Kikuchi established the fact of divorce by submitting the Acceptance Certificate, she was not able to establish the law of Japan on divorce.

“Given that Jocelyn was able to prove the fact of divorce but not the Japanese law on divorce, a remand of the case rather than its outright dismissal is proper,” the Court said.

“This is consistent with the policy of liberality that the Court has adopted in cases involving the recognition of foreign decrees to Filipinos in mixed marriage,” it added.

In 2015, Kikuchi filed a petition for judicial recognition of her divorce. The RTC granted the petition.

However, the Office of the Solicitor General moved to reconsider the RTC decision, a motion that was later denied. It then appealed before the Court of Appeals, which also denied the motion, leading the OSG to elevate the issue to the Supreme Court.

For its part, the High Court found the petition to be meritorious, ruling that Kikuchi was not able to prove that the divorce was valid under Japanese laws.

The Court held that the photocopy of the English translation of the Civil Code of Japan submitted by Kikuchi to prove that the divorce is valid under Japanese laws is “devoid of any probative value.”

“Not being an official translation, the document submitted by Jocelyn does not prove the existing law on divorce in Japan,” It said.

“Unfortunately, without such evidence, there is nothing on record to establish that the divorce between Jocelyn and Fumio was validly obtained and is consistent with Japanese law on divorce,” it added.—AOL, GMA News