Prima Facie Definition: (Latin) A legal presumption which means on the face of it or at first sight. For example, proof of mailing a letter is prima facie proof that it was delivered to the person to whom it was addressed and will accepted as such by a court unless proven otherwise. Other situations may require a prima facie case before proceeding to another step in the judicial process. The rules of court and of procedure often allow that photocopies of business record or government documents constitute prima facie proof of their authenticity which sets down a presumption that they are as good as the originals subject to evidence to the contrary. The signatures of officials and officers are also often taken as prima facie evidence as this sample from the US Code, Title 33, Chapter 17.1, ΒΆ876: "The signature without seal together with indication of grade of any officer performing any notarial act shall be prima facie evidence of his authority." REFERENCES: This definition was quoted with approval in Peters v. Treasury Board (Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development) 2007 PSLRB 7; and also 2007 CarswellNat 257 Categories & Topics: Dictionary of Latin Law Terms Find you are constantly looking up definitions? Try our search provider (works in most modern browsers) If you find an error or omission in Duhaime's Legal Dictionary, or if you have legal term suggestion, we'd love to hear from you!