A technical detail or minor rule that opposes or negates another technicality, often used in legal arguments to block loopholes.
From counter- + technicality. Technicality comes from technical (from Greek tekhnikos 'of craft'). This legal term emerged in 20th-century law to describe the practice of using minor rules to defeat other minor rules.
A countertechnicality is when a clever lawyer uses an obscure rule to block your clever use of an obscure rule—it's lawyer vs. lawyer, and often the judge just gets annoyed with both of them!
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