Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements

[White Hat]

Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements

Dear forumers!

There are times when there is a need to use a gender-neutral pronoun when referring to a person who is a party to an agreement. Most of the literature on the subject suggests using "he", "he/she", or "they". I have no problem with using any of those, but the text seems to sound a bit clunky. I've done some research and found that some native speakers use "it". Well, I know that "it" usually refers to inanimate objects, animals, and human babies. I wanted to know if "it" does really sound wrong to native speakers when referring to humans. Here is a piece of text from an agreement I found on an Australian website:

For registration the User shall give accurate information and, where such information changes over time, shall inform Keystone Healthcare Supplies thereof (to the extent possible: online) without undue delay. The User shall ensure, that its e-mail address, as supplied to Keystone Healthcare Supplies, will be current and an address at which the User can be contacted.

There are more examples of this usage available online. Can anybody enlighten me on this issue? Thanks in advance!

 

[MikeNewYork]

Re: Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements

I don't like the use of "its" there. "His/her" or "their" would be much better.

 

[White Hat]

Re: Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements

Mike, I really don't like it either, but is there any possibility that whoever wrote the above agreement is NOT a native speaker of English? If you're not very busy, could you please take a look at it (just click on 'its')? I just need you to give it a quick once-over to see if the text has been written by a native speaker. I appreciate it. The reason I need this is that there's a contract I translated recently in which I used 'its' everywhere to later find out that it was an organization, not a PERSON. I still have time to make some changes to the text. Please help me out.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Re: Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements

Sorry, way too much to read.

 

[White Hat]

Re: Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements

That's all right. Are you (or most native speakers of English) as reluctant to use "it" when referring to toddlers as when referring to humans who may be of either gender in legal contracts? If you guys aren't, then, I guess, people could dispense with the use of such weird words as you can find here.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Re: Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements

I never call a baby or a toddler "it". If I don't know the gender, I say baby or toddler.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Re: Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements

Also, I never refer to a person's pet as "it". If I don'r know the gender, I say "your/the" dog or cat.

 

[White Hat]

Re: Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements

Here's a great discussion related to using "it" when referring to toddlers. Looks like the British are more acceptable of 'it' than Americans. Still, the question remains: Can we refer to an adult who may be of either gender in legal contracts as 'it'? Babies are much gentler and kinder than adults. Who would care if we called someone who we don't even know 'it', in the context of some legalese claptrap at that?

 

[MikeNewYork]

Re: Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements

Brits do as Brits do. I can't speak for them.

 

[White Hat]

Re: Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements

I greatly appreciate your input, Mike. Most of the stuff they ask me to translate deals with Europe. So I basically don't really care which variant of English to stick to, as long as the text hits the idea home in a clear and concise manner. Meanwhile, I'll keep looking into the issue until someone manages to convince me to stay away from "it".

 

[Rover_KE]

Re: Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements

As the organisation will already have been established as 'the User' (singular), the singular 'it' sounds acceptable to me.

 

[White Hat]

Re: Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements

Here's one from a British website. What's weird is that they're using both 'he' and 'it' to refer to a user:

he: It is within the user’s sole responsibility to secure any passwords and avoid any misconduct as regards the use of such passwords that he might have received for the use of the website.
it: The user shall, for its own protection, take the necessary steps to ensure appropriate security measures and shall utilise a virus scanner before downloading any information, software or documentation.

What's this?

 

[Rover_KE]

Re: Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements

It's a mistake.

 

[White Hat]

Re: Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements

In addition Kube reserves the right, at any time and without having to indicate any specific reasons, to cancel or limit the user’s right to access the password-protected area by blocking its user data.

All information made public by Kube will be provided for the user – unless stated otherwise – free of charge. Every user may use and document the offered information for his/her own personal needs.

What about Australia? Do they wince at 'it' when someone refers to toddlers whose gender is unknown?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Re: Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements

He/she, she/he, and s/he look awful and read badly. They is simply wrong when talking about one person.

I appreciate writers who either rephrase the sentence or use the noun again instead of a pronoun.

There's no sentence that can't be rephrased easily.

 

[White Hat]

Re: Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements

I guess that's the way to go about it - rephrase:

The user shall, for [STRIKE]its[/STRIKE] the user's own protection, take the necessary steps to ensure appropriate security measures and shall utilise a virus scanner before downloading any information, software or documentation.

 

[Barb_D]

Re: Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements

I'll add that using "it" to refer to a human in this context sounds very non-native to me.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Re: Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements

I guess that's the way to go about it - rephrase:

The user shall, for [STRIKE]its[/STRIKE] the user's own protection, take the necessary steps to ensure appropriate security measures and shall utilise a virus scanner before downloading any information, software or documentation.

Yes, that works. My choice would either be: Users shall, for their own protection... and shall use virus scanners....

or: ...for his or her own protection....

(I hate utilize. It's junk English.)

 

[probus]

Re: Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements

Here in Canada, English-language contracts very often contain a provision stating that every pronoun in the contract includes and refers to all genders and numbers. It is so common that it is virtually standard legal usage here. How much sense that would make in a European context I don't know.