What is "duress"

Duress \Du*ress"\, v. t. To subject to duress. ``The party duressed.''
--Bacon.

Duress \Du"ress\, n. [OF. duresse, du?, hardship, severity, L. duritia, durities, fr. durus hard. See Dure.]

1. Hardship; constraint; pressure; imprisonment; restraint of liberty.

   The agreements . . . made with the landlords during the time of slavery, are only the effect of duress and force.
   --Burke.

2. (Law) The state of compulsion or necessity in which a person is influenced, whether by the unlawful restrain of his liberty or by actual or threatened physical violence, to incur a civil liability or to commit an offense.

early 14c., "harsh or severe treatment," from Old French duresse, from Latin duritia "hardness," from durus "hard" (see endure). For Old French -esse, compare fortress. Sense of "coercion, compulsion" is from 1590s.

n. 1 (context obsolete English) Harsh treatment. 2 constraint by threat. 3 (context legal English) The state of compulsion or necessity in which a person is influenced, whether by the unlawful restraint of his liberty or by actual or threatened physical violence, to incur a civil liability or to commit an offence. vb. To put under #Noun; to pressure.

n. compulsory force or threat; "confessed under duress"

In jurisprudence, 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. 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]". Duress is pressure exerted upon a person to coerce that person to perform an act that he or she ordinarily would not perform. The notion of duress must be distinguished both from undue influence in the civil law and from necessity.

Duress has two aspects. One is that it negates the person's consent to an act, such as sexual activity or the entering into a contract; or, secondly, as a possible legal defense or justification to an otherwise unlawful act. A defendant utilizing the duress defense admits to breaking the law, but claims that he/she is not liable because, even though the act broke the law, it was only performed because of extreme unlawful pressure. In criminal law, a duress defense is similar to a plea of guilty, admitting partial culpability, so that if the defense is not accepted then the criminal act is admitted.

Duress or coercion can also be raised in an allegation of rape or other sexual assault to negate a defense of consent on the part of the person making the allegation.

Duress is an American film in the psychological thriller genre. The film was initially screened at various film festivals in the United States, Poland and Russia and received favorable reviews. Mark Savlov of the Austin Chronicle wrote about Duress after seeing it at Fantastic Fest in Austin: "With a mind-blowing denouement that makes the last five minutes of The Sixth Sense feel like the last five minutes of Stranger Than Paradise and a pair of harrowing, human (and inhumanly calibrated) performances from Martin Donovan and Rouvas, Duress comes across like a slap to the psyche, a splash of ice-water across the soul." The film was released theatrically in Greece by Greek distributor Hollywood Entertainment.

The movie was written by Jim Kehoe and directed by Jordan Barker and was filmed in Los Angeles, California. The film was the first American production by popular Greek singer-songwriter and actor Sakis Rouvas, who had the primary antagonist role in the film.