Duress

Facts: Barton, the managing director of Landmark Corporation Ltd, executed a deed on behalf of the company agreeing to pay $320,000 to Armstrong, in order to remove him from the board of directors. Barton entered into this agreement partly for commercial reasons and partly because Armstrong had threatened to have him murdered if he did not. At fi rst instance, the judge found that Armstrong had threatened Barton, but that the primary and predominant reason why Barton executed the deed was because of the commercial necessity of so acting. The Court of Appeal of New South Wales dismissed the appeal on the ground that Barton had failed to discharge the burden of proving that he would not have entered into the agreement but for the threats.