Judicial notice – scope: adjudicative facts vs legislative facts. Which statement is correct?

• A. Judicial notice applies to legislative facts only
• B. Judicial notice applies to adjudicative facts only
• C. Judicial notice applies to both legislative and adjudicative facts
• D. Judicial notice applies to neither

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is understanding what facts a court can take official notice of without proof. Judicial notice is used for adjudicative facts—those facts that are specific to the case and help decide the dispute. The facts must be generally known within the jurisdiction or easily verifiable from reliable sources, so the court can accept them without bringing in evidence. Legislative facts, by contrast, are broad background facts about public policy, society, or behavior that help interpret laws, but they are not the kind of facts the court routinely takes judicial notice of for the purposes of deciding a particular case. So the correct statement is that judicial notice applies to adjudicative facts only. The other possibilities misstate the scope by suggesting it covers legislative facts, both types, or neither.