This problem seems to be due to the fact that Spring MVC is unable to parse List<FilterCriterion> directly as a request parameter by default.

Here's my solution.

Wrap the List parameter with another entity class

@GetMapping
public Page<Application> search(Pageable pageable, @Valid FilterCriterionDTO filters) {
    return Page.empty();
}

This is the new entity class

public class FilterCriterionDTO {
    @Valid
    private List<FilterCriterion> filters;
    // getters, setters
}

If this is not what you meant by your question, please let me know.