TITLE TWO — JUDICIAL NOTICE
Rule 202. Judicial Notice of Law
Not Permitted. A court is not permitted to take judicial notice of municipal ordinances, town bylaws, special acts of the State Senate, or regulations not published in the State Code of Statutes.
Particular Matters Within Rule 202(1). The mandatory notice required by Rule 202(1) extends to:
the Constitution of the State of Ridgeway, comprising six articles;
every title, chapter, and section of the Ridgeway Code of Statutes as published, including the Ridgeway Criminal Code and the Ridgeway Vehicle Code and the offenses and penalties stated in them;
the rules of court promulgated by the Supreme Court through the Judicial Conference under Const. art. V § 9 and 3 R. Stat. § 121.106, being the Ridgeway Rules of Civil Procedure, the Ridgeway Rules of Criminal Procedure, these rules, and the Ridgeway Rules of the Supreme Court;
the judicial canons and codes of conduct prescribed under 3 R. Stat. § 121.107;
the local rules of the court in which the proceeding is pending, prescribed under 3 R. Stat. § 121.106(c), and, in the court’s discretion, the local rules of another court of this State; and
the decisions and opinions of the Supreme Court filed with the Clerk of the Supreme Court under 3 R. Stat. § 121.105, which constitute the common law of Ridgeway together with the decisions of the courts of this State.
The Published Corpus. The Ridgeway Code of Statutes, which Rule 202(1)(b) calls the State Code of Statutes, and the Constitution of the State of Ridgeway are published by authority of the State in a form that is publicly available and machine-readable. The court may determine the content of a law noticed under Rule 202(1) from that publication, and may do so on its own without the aid of a party.
Law in Force at the Relevant Time. The court shall take notice of a law as it stood at the time of the conduct, event, or filing to which it is applied, and shall give effect to a repeal, amendment, or expiration recorded in the published text. Where a party asserts that the text in force differed from the text as published, that party shall supply the text asserted and the authority for it.
A Party Supplying the Text of a Law. A party may supply, and the court may on its own or on a party’s motion require any party to supply, the text of a law.
Manner. The text may be supplied by:
citation to the constitutional article and section, or to the title, chapter, and section number of the Code of Statutes, sufficient to identify the provision;
filing a copy or capture of the published provision as an exhibit through the electronic filing system; or
quoting the provision in the proceeding communications of the case, identifying its source.
Requirement. Where the court requires a party to supply the text of a law, it shall state the provision, the party required to supply it, and the time within which it must be supplied, stated in hours.
Failure to Supply. Where a party required to supply the text of a law within Rule 202(1) fails to do so, the court shall nonetheless take notice of it. Where a party relies upon a law within Rule 202(2) and fails to supply proof of it as Rule 202(8) requires, the court shall not consider that law.
Costs. The court may require the party who invokes a law to bear the labor of supplying it, and may decline to hear argument upon a law that party has not supplied.
Opportunity to Be Heard. Before determining a question of law upon a source not supplied by a party, the court shall, on timely request, afford the parties an opportunity to be heard upon the content, applicability, and effect of the law. Where the court determines the content of a law after the close of the evidence, it shall state the determination on the record and afford the parties an opportunity to be heard before entering judgment.
Proof of Law Not Subject to Notice. A municipal ordinance, a town bylaw, a special act of the State Senate, and a regulation not published in the State Code of Statutes shall be proved as a fact. Such a law may be proved by an attested copy in the manner Rule 902(3)(a) provides, or by any other means these rules allow for proof of an official record under Rule 1005. A party intending to rely upon such a law shall give notice of that intention within the period allowed for pre-trial proceedings, or as soon thereafter as the ground appears.
Determination Is a Question of Law. The content and effect of a law noticed under this rule is a question for the court and not for the trier of fact. A law so noticed is not evidence, shall not be admitted as an exhibit for the truth of any matter it recites, and shall not be submitted to a jury except through the instructions of the court, which shall charge the jury with the law of the case and the penalty for the offense charged, as 6 R. Stat. § 131.307 provides and as 6 R. Stat. § 131.308 permits the parties to request.
Law of Another Jurisdiction. A party intending to raise an issue about the law of another state or nation shall give notice by a filing or on the record. In determining that law the court may consider any relevant material or source, whether or not submitted by a party and whether or not admissible under these rules. The determination is a ruling on a question of law. Where no party gives notice and supplies the law of the other jurisdiction, the court may presume it to be the same as the law of this State.