prima facie

Prima facie is Latin for "at first sight,” or β€œon the face of it.”

Prima facie is used in court to indicate that there is sufficient or adequate evidence to support a claim . More simply put, a prima facie case means that the claim being presented to a court has merit, when taken at face value.

A prima facie case is the establishment of a legally required rebuttable presumption . In other words, a prima facie case is a cause of action or defense that is sufficiently established by a party's evidence to justify a verdict in their favor, provided such evidence is not rebutted by the other party.

Prima facie evidence/claims are used in criminal courts, as well as civil courts, most commonly in tort law. In fact, various torts will typically have prima facie cases attached to them. In a prima facie tort claim, the plaintiff first provides evidence that a tort was committed by the defendant , then the burden of proof shifts to the defendant to disprove they committed the tort.

[Last reviewed in January of 2025 by the Wex Definitions Team ]

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