Legal Dictionary of Pakistan

economic duress

An unlawful coercion to perform by threatening financial injury at a time when one cannot exercise free will. -Also termed business compulsion. "Courts have shown a willingness to recognize the concept of 'economic duress.' For instance it has been held that a defence on these grounds may be available to the purchaser of a ship from a shipbuilder, if the latter extracts a promise of extra payment as a condition of delivery of the ship." P.S. Atiyah, An Introduction to the Law of Contract 230 (3d ed. 1981).