Negatives cannot be proved.

Explanation

It is in the nature of things that a party cannot prove what did not happen; therefore the law places the burden of proof on the affirmative.

Where this applies

• The court is asking me to prove that something didn't happen, which seems impossible.
• I have to show I never signed a document but how do you prove you never did something.
• They want me to prove the absence of an agreement that was never made.

See also

• 9.1.2 The burden of proof falls upon the one who asserts, not the one who denies.
• 9.1.3 The proof rests upon the one who affirms, not upon the one who denies.