Judicial notice is a legal concept which allows a court to recognize certain facts as true without requiring further proof from the parties involved in a case. It is used to save time and resources, as the court can rely on certain facts which are generally accepted as true and uncontested in the legal system. There are two types of judicial notice: mandatory and discretionary. Mandatory judicial notice requires the court to recognize a fact as true without any further proof. Discretionary judicial notice allows the court to consider evidence presented by the parties and then decide whether to take judicial notice of the fact. Judicial notice is most commonly used for facts which are indisputable or which are of public notoriety, such as the date of a holiday or the laws of a particular state. In some cases, judicial notice may be taken of facts which have been established in previous cases.