A negative pregnant refers to a denial which implies its affirmative opposite by seeming to deny only a qualification of the allegation and not the allegation itself. For example, "I have never consumed cocaine while on duty" might imply that the person making the statement had consumed cocaine on other occasions, and was only denying that they had done so while on duty.

A negative pregnant which appears in pleading

Pleading

In law as practiced in countries that follow the English models, a pleading is a formal written statement filed with a court by parties in a civil action, other than a motion...

s will often elicit a request for further and better particulars

Further and better particulars

In pleading, further and better particulars refers to additional information required to provide sufficient accuracy with respect to a set of pleaded facts in an earlier document. The party who believes that the facts are insufficiently pleaded will issue a request for further and better...

, or an interrogatory.

The issue can also arise in the context of statutory interpretation

Statutory interpretation

Statutory interpretation is the process by which courts interpret and apply legislation. Some amount of interpretation is always necessary when a case involves a statute. Sometimes the words of a statute have a plain and straightforward meaning. But in many cases, there is some ambiguity or...

. For instance, Justice Marshall argues in his dissent to EEOC v. Aramco, 499 U.S. 244 (1991), that the presumption against extraterritoriality

Extraterritoriality

Extraterritoriality is the state of being exempt from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations. Extraterritoriality can also be applied to physical places, such as military bases of foreign countries, or offices of the United Nations...

 is rebutted by a negative inference from the alien-exemption provision of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Civil Rights Act of 1964

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation...

, which states that Title VII "shall not apply to an employer with respect to the employment of aliens outside any State." Marshall concludes that "Absent an intention that Title VII apply 'outside any State,' Congress would have had no reason to craft this extraterritorial exemption. And because only discrimination against aliens is exempted, employers remain accountable for discrimination against United States citizens abroad."

See also

• Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 12(e) - Motion For a More Definite Statement