What is "prima facie"

Prima facie \Pri"ma fa"ci*e\ [L., from abl. of primus first + abl. of facies appearance.] At first view; on the first appearance.

Prima facie evidence (of a fact) (Law), evidence which is sufficient to establish the fact unless rebutted.
--Bouvier.

Latin, literally "at first sight," ablative of prima facies "first appearance," from prima, fem. singular of primus "first" (see prime (adj.)) + facies "form, face" (see face (n.)).

a. (context legal English) apparently correct; not needing proof unless evidence to the contrary is shown adv. (context legal English) at first sight; on the face of it

1. adj. as it seems at first sight; "a prima facie case of murder"

2. adv. at first sight

Prima facie (, , or ; from ) is a Latin expression meaning on its first encounter or at first sight. The literal translation would be "at first face" or "at first appearance", from the feminine forms of primus ("first") and facies ("face"), both in the ablative case. In modern, colloquial and conversational English, a common translation would be, "on the face of it". The term prima facie is used in modern legal English (including both civil law and criminal law) to signify that upon initial examination, sufficient corroborating evidence appears to exist to support a case. In common law jurisdictions, prima facie denotes evidence that, unless rebutted, would be sufficient to prove a particular proposition or fact. The term is used similarly in academic philosophy. Most legal proceedings, in most jurisdictions, require a prima facie case to exist, following which proceedings may then commence to test it, and create a ruling.