CIVIL EVIDENCE ACT [Chapter 8:01] as at 1st May 2007 PART VI JUDICIAL NOTICE 24 Judicial notice (1) A court shall take judicial notice of the following— (a) the law of Zimbabwe; and (b) decisions of the High Court or the Supreme Court, if reported or recorded in citable form; and (c) any enactment published in or as a supplement to the Gazette; and (d) any other matter whatsoever which, in terms of rules of court or any other enactment, the court is required to accept as correct or of which it is required to take judicial notice. (2) Subsection (1) shall apply without prejudice to Part VII of the Interpretation Act [Chapter 1:01]. (3) A court may and, if the necessary information is supplied, shall take judicial notice of any fact which is not subject to reasonable dispute in that it is— (a) generally known among reasonably informed people in Zimbabwe or within the area of jurisdiction of the court; or (b) capable of accurate and ready determination by resort to sources whose accuracy can not reasonably be questioned. 25 Foreign law (1) A court shall not take judicial notice of the law of any foreign country or territory, nor shall it presume that the law of any such country or territory is the same as the law of Zimbabwe. (2) Any person who, in the opinion of the court, is suitably qualified to do so on account of his knowledge or experience shall be competent to give expert evidence as to the law of any foreign country or territory, whether or not he has acted or is entitled to act as a legal practitioner in that country or territory. (3) In considering any issue as to the law of any foreign country or territory, a court may have regard to— (a) any finding or decision purportedly made or given in any court of record in that country or territory, where the finding or decision is reported or recorded in citable form; and (b) any written law of that country or territory; and (c) any decision given by the High Court or the Supreme Court as to the law of that country or territory. (4) The law of any foreign country or territory shall be taken to be in accordance with a finding or decision mentioned in paragraph (a) of subsection (3), unless the finding or decision conflicts with another such finding or decision on the same question. (5) For the purposes of paragraph (a) of subsection (3), a finding or decision shall be taken to be reported or recorded in citable form only if it is reported or recorded in writing in a report, — 17 —

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