The org.springframework.data.domain.Sort.NullHandling API provides for NULLS_FIRST and NULLS_LAST but in practice anything other than NATIVE throws UsupportedOperationException at org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.query.QueryUtils.java line 757:
if (order.getNullHandling() != Sort.NullHandling.NATIVE) {
throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Applying Null Precedence using Criteria Queries is not yet supported.");
}