Duress Flashcards
What effect does proving Duress have on a contract?
Renders a contract voidable
What constitutes Duress to the person?
Actual or threatened violence
This type of duress directly impacts the individual involved in the contract.
What must be shown to establish Duress to goods or property?
Agreement would not have been entered into if there had not been the duress
This emphasizes the influence of duress on the decision-making process regarding the contract.
Define Economic Duress.
Compulsion on or a lack of legitimate practical choice for the victim which is a significant cause inducing the claimant to enter into the contract
What does ‘lack of practical choice’ imply in the context of Economic Duress?
No other contractable party to replace
This means the victim feels they have no viable alternatives.
What characterizes illegitimate pressure in Economic Duress?
Threatened breach of contract, in bad faith, with the victim protesting rather than affirming the decision
The pressure must be unjust and exerted in a manner that undermines the victim’s consent.
What is the ‘but for’ test in relation to Economic Duress?
Significant cause of the victim entering into the contract
This test assesses whether the contract would have been made without the duress.
What can constitute good consideration in a contract?
Doing something above and beyond its original contractual obligations
This means additional actions taken that enhance the contract’s terms.
What happens if a party only fulfills existing obligations?
There is no consideration to make the variation binding
Simply meeting prior obligations does not create new contractual commitments.
What is recission in contract law?
Returning parties back to the situation they were in prior to the contract being entered into
Recission is a remedy that undoes the contract and restores the original state.
What effect does affirmation have on recission?
Affirmation operates as a bar to recission
If a party affirms the contract, they cannot later seek to rescind it.
who has the burden of proof for duress to person
the burden is on the party who exerted the duress to show that the threates contributed nothing to entering into the contract
can a lawful act consitute illegitimate pressure?
Yes if it is made in bad faith - this will be rare in a commercial situation.
