PROVING ECONOMIC DURESS: THE DIFFICULTIES

DSDN Subsea Ltd v Petroleum Geo-Services ASA ([2000] BLR 530)

The case of DSDN Subsea Ltd v Petroleum Geo-Services ASA [2000] BLR 530 illustrates the difficulties which face a party to a contract who attempts to set the contract aside on the ground that he entered into it as a result of the exercise of economic duress. The attempt in the present case failed for a number of reasons: (i) there was a lack of contemporaneous evidence to substantiate the claim that economic duress had been exercised, (ii) the party seeking to set aside the contract had not demonstrated that it had no realistic practical alternative but to concede to the demands made and (iii) it was held to have affirmed the contract after it had ceased to be subject to any duress (on the assumption that there had been duress in the first place).