THE Supreme Court (SC) will hold an oral argument on the recognition of foreign divorce next week.
An advisory issued by the SC on Thursday afternoon said the proceedings will be held at 2 p.m. on August 19.
SC spokesperson Camille Sue Mae Ting said the case presents a novel question involving a Filipino with dual citizenship who obtained a foreign divorce while abroad, subsequently acquired foreign citizenship through naturalization, and thereafter reacquired Philippine citizenship.
“The marriage in question was solemnized in the Philippines,” Ting said.
The SC has yet to make available the relevant pleadings on the case but Ting said they will post it on the high court’s website once available.
The last time the issue of foreign divorce reached the SC was when it issued a decision on October 21, 2024 where its third division sent a case back to the Court of Appeals to give a Filipina the chance to prove the divorce laws in Kentucky, USA.
In the said decision, the high court held that in seeking local recognition of a divorce granted by a foreign court, all the Filipino petitioner needs to prove is the divorce law of the country where the divorce was obtained, not the law of the foreign spouse’s nationality.
