What is duress in the law of contract?

Duress is illegitimate pressure applied to force a party into a contract or a variation of one, so that the party's apparent agreement was not truly voluntary.

Define economic duress.

Economic duress is illegitimate commercial or financial pressure that leaves the other party with no realistic practical alternative but to agree, so their consent to the contract or variation is vitiated.

State the three requirements a party must establish to prove economic duress.

There must be pressure that the law regards as illegitimate, it must have been a significant cause of that party entering the agreement, and the party must have had no reasonable practical alternative to submitting to it.

Which case first recognised economic duress in English law?

The Siboen and The Sibotre (1976) first accepted that pressure other than a threat to the person or to goods could vitiate a contract, although the defence failed on the facts.

What four factors did Pao On v Lau Yiu Long (1980) treat as evidence of duress?

The court asks whether the party protested at the time, whether an alternative course such as a legal remedy was open to them, whether they were independently advised, and whether they took steps to avoid the agreement afterwards.

WJEC A-Level Law 603-1978-1

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Contract: Misrepresentation and DuressContract

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Contract: Misrepresentation and Duress

Economic duress

3 things to know
A2 Units 3 and 4

Overview

Duress in the law of contract, economic duress and effect of duress on the contract.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Key term

What did the Supreme Court decide in Pakistan International Airline Corporation v Times Travel (UK) (2021)?

Key term

What did The Atlantic Baron (1979) decide about a demand for extra payment during shipbuilding?

Key term

Why did the carrier's demand amount to economic duress in Atlas Express v Kafco (1989)?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
What is duress in the law of contract?
Model answer
Duress is illegitimate pressure applied to force a party into a contract or a variation of one, so that the party's apparent agreement was not truly voluntary.
2
Define economic duress.
Model answer
Economic duress is illegitimate commercial or financial pressure that leaves the other party with no realistic practical alternative but to agree, so their consent to the contract or variation is vitiated.
3
State the three requirements a party must establish to prove economic duress.
Model answer
There must be pressure that the law regards as illegitimate, it must have been a significant cause of that party entering the agreement, and the party must have had no reasonable practical alternative to submitting to it.
4
Which case first recognised economic duress in English law?
Model answer
The Siboen and The Sibotre (1976) first accepted that pressure other than a threat to the person or to goods could vitiate a contract, although the defence failed on the facts.
5
What did The Atlantic Baron (1979) decide about a demand for extra payment during shipbuilding?
Model answer
The builders' threat to stop work unless the price was increased amounted to economic duress, but the owners lost the right to set the variation aside because they waited some months after delivery before protesting.
6
What four factors did Pao On v Lau Yiu Long (1980) treat as evidence of duress?
Model answer
The court asks whether the party protested at the time, whether an alternative course such as a legal remedy was open to them, whether they were independently advised, and whether they took steps to avoid the agreement afterwards.

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