Simple English definitions for legal terms
Read a random definition: commencement of infringement
Coercion is when someone forces another person to do something they don't want to do. This can happen when someone threatens to hurt or harm another person if they don't do what they want. It can also happen when someone uses their power or money to make someone else do something they don't want to do. Coercion is not okay and can be against the law. For example, if someone is forced to sign a document or get married, it may not be legal because it was done under coercion.
Definition: Coercion is when someone uses physical force or threats to make someone else do something they don't want to do. It can also refer to the improper use of economic power to force someone to do something.
Example: If someone threatens to hurt you if you don't give them your money, that is coercion. It is also coercion if a boss threatens to fire an employee if they don't work overtime without pay.
Coercion can also refer to a historical practice where husbands had control over their wives' actions. If a wife committed a crime in her husband's presence, she was presumed to have been coerced by him. This practice has been abolished.
Related terms: Criminal coercion, implied coercion, moral coercion, economic coercion, doctrine of coercion.