Judicial notice is a court’s acceptance of a well-known and indisputable fact without requiring the party relying on the fact to prove it. The doctrine of judicial notice is one of common sense, and is based on the theory that where a fact is well-known in the community—or its existence is easily determined from sources that cannot be reasonably questioned—it would not be a good use of judicial time and resources to require formal proof of the fact in court. A court may take judicial notice of both facts and laws.
In Rhode Island, the concept of judicial notice aligns with the general principles found in other jurisdictions. Judicial notice allows courts to accept certain facts that are commonly known within the community or can be verified by sources that are beyond dispute, without requiring formal proof. This doctrine is applied to both adjudicative facts—those that are typically the subject of proof with evidence—and legislative facts that are related to legal reasoning and the determination of law. Rhode Island courts may take judicial notice of laws, including statutes, regulations, and ordinances, as well as facts that are not subject to reasonable dispute because they are generally known within the territorial jurisdiction of the court or can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned. The Rhode Island Rules of Evidence, particularly Rule 201, govern the use of judicial notice in the state's courts. This rule outlines the procedures for requesting judicial notice and the types of facts that may be noticed. Attorneys may request that a court take judicial notice of certain facts or laws, and the court has the discretion to do so when appropriate.