Duress

In duress or coercion refers to a situation whereby a person performs an act as a result of violence, threat, or other pressure against the person. The definition is defined as "any unlawful threat or coercion used to induce another to act (or not act) in a manner they otherwise would not (or would). Duress is pressure exerted upon a person to coerce that person to perform an act that they normally would not perform. Duress has two aspects; One that it negates the person's consent to an act (such as a sexual activity or entering into a contract) or secondly, as a possible legal defense or justification to an otherwise unlawful act. As a defense, a defendant is arguing that he or she should not be held liable because, even though the act broke the law, it was only performed because of extreme unlawful pressure. For duress to qualify as a defense, four requirements must be met:
-The threat must be of serious bodily harm or death
-The threatened harm must be greater than the harm caused by the crime
-The threat must be immediate and inescapable
-The defendant must have become involved in the situation through no fault of his or her own.
With the defense of duress it is actually attaching some degree of culpability to the defendant for what was done. The basis of the defense is that the duress actually overwhelmed the defendants will and would also have overwhelmed the will of a person of ordinary courage, thus rendering the entire behavior involuntary; therefore the liability should be reduced or discharged. The extent to which this defense should be allowed, if at all, is a matter of public policy. A state may say that no threat should force a person to deliberately break the law, particularly if this breach will cause significant loss or damage to a third person. Alternatively, a state may take the view that even though people may have ordinary levels of courage, they may nevertheless be coerced into agreeing to break the law and this human weakness should have some recognition in the law.