Prima Facie
Latin: 'at first sight'. Evidence that is sufficient to establish a fact or raise a presumption of fact unless rebutted. A prima facie case is one that appears, on the face of it, to be well-founded.
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
Prima facie ('at first sight' or 'on the face of it') describes evidence that appears, on an initial view, sufficient to establish a fact or a case, unless and until it is rebutted by other evidence. Official guidance from the Northern Ireland Department of Justice on committal proceedings puts the underlying test this way: after considering the evidence, the court decides whether there is a prima facie case (a case to answer) against the accused, and for there to be a prima facie case there must be sufficient evidence to put the accused on trial by jury for any indictable offence.
The same underlying idea — evidence sufficient to raise a case that stands unless rebutted — is applied well beyond criminal committal proceedings, including in civil claims, arbitration and regulatory decision-making, wherever a decision-maker must first ask whether a party's evidence clears the threshold of a case worth answering, before weighing it against any evidence to the contrary.
Related terms
Official sources
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