Duress

Duress or coercion (as a term of jurisprudence) is a possible legal defense, one of four of the most important justification defenses[1], by which defendants argue that they should not be held liable because the actions that broke the law were only performed out of an immediate fear of injury. Black's Law Dictionary (6th ed.) defines duress as "any unlawful threat or coercion used... to induce another to act [or not act] in a manner [they] otherwise would not [or would]." The notion of duress must be distinguished both from undue influence in the civil law and from necessity which might be described as a form of duress by force of circumstances.[citation needed] Note that in criminal law, a duress defense is similar to a plea of guilty, admitting partial culpability, so it could possibly lead to an easy conviction of a criminal.

Duress or coercion can also be raised in an allegation of * or ual assault to negate a defence of consent on the part of the person making the allegation.