Compulsion

Forcible inducement to the commission of an act. Acts done under compulsion are not, in general, binding upon a party; but when a man is compelled by lawful authority to do that which he ought to do, that compulsion does not affect the validity of the act; as, for example, when a court of competent jurisdiction compels a party to execute a deed, under the pain of attachment for contempt, the grantor cannot object to it on the ground of compulsion. But if the court compelled a party to do an act forbidden by law, or had not jurisdiction over the parties or the subject-matter, the act done by such compulsion* would be void. See Coercion; Duress.