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Legal Relative Clauses — B2

Legal English Grammar · B2+

Defining and Non-defining Relative Clauses

Identify people, documents and rules precisely, then add extra information without changing the main reference.

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Language-learning context

The legal situations in this unit are fictional. The modal verbs practise certainty, permission, obligation and possibility; they do not state the law of any particular jurisdiction.

80 CHECKS8 staged chapters

By the end of this unit, you should be able to…

distinguish essential information from additional information;
choose who, whom, whose, which, that, where and when;
use commas accurately and omit a pronoun only when possible;
combine and edit legal-style sentences without creating ambiguity.

Core meaning first

One form identifies; the other adds

Before choosing a pronoun, decide whether the relative clause tells us exactly which person or thing we mean.

Defining relative clause

Essential information. It identifies the person, thing, place or time.

Commas: No commas
Pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, that, where, when
Pronoun omission: Possible when the pronoun is the object (not whose)

The lawyer who may chair the panel has arrived.

Non-defining relative clause

Additional information. The person, thing, place or time is already identified.

Commas: Use a pair, or one comma at the end of a sentence
Pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, where, when
Pronoun omission: Not possible; do not use that

Ms Borg, who may chair the panel, has arrived.

No commasThe advocates who arrived late missed the briefing. Only the late advocates missed it.

CommasThe advocates, who arrived late, missed the briefing. All the advocates missed it.

TABLE

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Completed reference · Code 0110

Relative markers and their jobs

Marker	Refers to	Typical job	Legal-style example
who / that	people	Subject in a defining clause	A person who reports misconduct may receive protection.
whom / who / that	people	Object in a defining clause; whom is more formal	The adviser whom the firm appointed must remain independent.
whose	people or things	Possession or association	An operator whose licence has expired must not continue.
which / that	things	Subject or object in a defining clause	The provision that may apply should be reviewed.
where / when	place / time	Location or time	The office where claims may be filed closes at four.
who / whom / whose / which	identified nouns	Non-defining extra information	The permit, which expires on Friday, may be renewed.
which	a whole earlier clause	Comments on an event or fact	The notice arrived late, which could affect the timetable.
under which / to whom	things / people	Formal preposition pattern	The conditions under which access may be granted must be clear.

Legal-writing check: A relative clause can accidentally change the scope of a rule. Always ask, “Does this clause identify the noun, or merely add information about it?”

Chapter 9 · Independent production

Draft, test and refine

Write your own sentences. Keep the scenario fictional if you prefer. Your work saves automatically in this browser.

Six-sentence drafting brief

Purpose	Your sentence
Identify a person who may or must act.
Identify a document or rule.
Add information about a named person.
Add information about a known document.
Comment on a whole earlier clause.
Use a formal preposition pattern.

Drafts are stored only in this browser.

KEY

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