Coercion

What is coercion in free consent?

Coercion is described in Section 15 of the Contracts Act 1950 as the “the committing or threatening to commit any act forbidden by the Penal Code, or the unlawful detaining or threatening to detain, any property, to the prejudice of any person whatever, with the intention of causing any person to enter into an agreement”. 

The element of coercion :

 1) The coercion must be the committing of an act forbidden by the Penal Code

2) The coercion must be the unlawful detaining or threatening to detain any property

3) The act of coercion must be carried out with the intention of causing any person to enter into an agreement

For instance, coercion can be seen in the case of Kesarmal s/o Letchman Das v Valiappa Chettiar [1954] MLJ 119 where a transfer of property was made under 'the orders of the Sultan, issued in the presence of 2 Japanese officers during the Japanese occupation of Malaysia. Therefore the court held that the transfer of land was not valid as the consent given was under a threat and not free.