Spring Controller with Date objects

DateController.java

package mypackage;

import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.Date;

import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.beans.propertyeditors.CustomDateEditor;
import org.springframework.web.bind.WebDataBinder;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.InitBinder;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMethod;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestParam;
import org.springframework.web.servlet.ModelAndView;

@Controller
public class DateController {

    @RequestMapping("/dates", method=RequestMethod.GET)
    public ModelAndView getDate(@RequestParam(value="date", required=false) Date date) {
        
        ModelAndView mv = new ModelAndView();

        if (date == null) {
            date = new Date();
        }

        mv.addObject("date", date);
        mv.setView("dates");
        return mv;
    }

    @InitBinder
    public void initBinder(WebDataBinder binder) {
        SimpleDateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd");
        dateFormat.setLenient(false);
        binder.registerCustomEditor(Date.class, new CustomDateEditor(dateFormat, false));
    }

}