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1. Who we are and what we do
- We are a crowdfunding and legal rights advocacy platform aimed at funding the legal services of professional lawyers for a community of people who otherwise would not be able to raise funds.
- We also aim to educate the public about the law through weekly podcasts on a wide range of interesting topics and situations you may one day find yourself in.
- We do not provide legal advice or legal services. We don’t endorse any of the cases and or campaigns and we don’t exercise editorial control over what the campaigners choose to publish on their Page. We do our best to make sure that no one acts fraudulently or improperly on the site, but you must make your own judgment on whether to help fund a campaign.
- This is a donation site. Donating towards a campaign is not a financial investment. In some instances, a campaigner may recover some of the costs of the campaign that it donated towards. Any money raised that a campaigner doesn’t use or recovers will be dealt with in accordance with the Refund policy contained in clause 14 below.
- Please note that Just Law is not a financial services provider and does not offer regulated investments through the platform. Therefore, it is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Services Board. As with all donation and crowdfunding initiatives, there is no recourse to either the Financial Sector Conduct Authority and or the FAIS Ombud.
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2. Terms of use
- The Terms of Use set out below provide details of the terms of using the site.
- By using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms, our Privacy Policy, all applicable laws and all conditions or policies referenced here.
- When using the Service, you shall be subject to any guidelines or rules (the “Guidelines”) applicable that may be posted online from time to time. All such guidelines or rules are hereby incorporated by reference into the Terms.
- Justlaw is indemnified from responsibility and or the ramifications of a campaigner’s content, actions or inactions and or any other party who accesses and or uses this site. In accessing and using this site, you acknowledge that we have no control over and do not guarantee the veracity, quality, accuracy, truthfulness, or legality of the campaigners and campaigns listed on this site.
- Justlaw undertakes to put measures in place to verify the veracity, quality, accuracy, truthfulness, or legality of the campaigners and campaigns. However, this undertaking is not admission of liability for the lack of accuracy, truthfulness, or legality of the campaigners and campaigns.
- Your use of this site constitutes acceptance of these Terms, which take effect on the date of your first use of the Site.
- Justlaw may make changes to these Terms at any time by posting same on the site. Any changes will apply to users, campaigners and contributors seven days after the date of posting the modified terms on the site. Continued use of the site after that period has expired means that you accept any such changes. You should ensure that you refresh your browser each time you visit the site to review the latest version of these Terms.
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3. Description of the service and definitions
The Service is a crowdfunding platform that can easily be promoted via social media services, websites, and email.
- “Campaign” is a fundraising project created using our Services, either to collect money for a personal legal campaign or on behalf of an Organization.
- “Campaign Owner” is the individual that created the Campaign. Campaign Owners have access to features and tools for their Campaign including but not limited to tracking Contributions made to their Campaign and editing details of their Campaign, subject to the terms and conditions attached to our service. Campaign Owners may grant access to the features and tools of the Campaign to Users and the Users are subject to these Terms as agreed to by the Campaign Owner.
- “Contributor” is any individual or organization that contributes money to a Campaign.
- Contribution is any financial transaction that benefits the Campaign.
- Organization may be but is not limited to any of the following entities, namely; a non-profit organisation, a community organisation, a public interest law organisation, a co-operative, a school, a political party,business, a private company, or other social entity that has a collective goal.
- User is any individual who has accepted the Terms by logging in to the Service through a Login Service or by contributing to a Campaign.
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4. Interruptions, errors and omissions
- Whilst all reasonable endeavours will be made to ensure the maintenance and availability of this Site,Justlaw does not accept liability arising from any errors, omissions, interruptions of service or delays that may occur in connection with this Site.
- There may be times when our online services are unavailable due to planned maintenance. We will try to inform you in advance of any such suspension through a general notice on this Site, but this may not always be practicable.
- We may vary the specification of this Site from time to time without notice.
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5. Eligibility
- There is no minimum age requirement for registering to use this Site. However, campaigners who have not attained age of majority will be required to use the service with the consent and supervision of a parent or legal guardian who is at least 18 years old, provided that that campaigner’s parent or legal guardian also agrees to be bound by these Terms and agrees to be responsible for the campaigners use of the Service.
- You are not eligible to use the Service if you have previously been suspended from using the Service for any reason and have not been explicitly authorized to resume using the Service. We reserve the right to refuse use of the Service to anyone and to reject, cancel, interrupt, remove or suspend a Campaign at any time for any reason without liability.
- When using the Service, you shall be subject to any guidelines or rules (the “Guidelines”) applicable that may be posted online from time to time. All such guidelines or rules are hereby incorporated by reference into the Terms.
- In the event where a campaign is a general legal project that does not require or involve legal representation only non-profit organisations may register to use this site and service in that regard.
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6. Registration
- Those who wish to register to use this Site will be required to create a username and password. This information is personal, not transferable and must not be shared with anyone. You acknowledge that you are responsible for all information and activity on this Site by anyone using your username and password.
- Any breach of security or unauthorised use of a username, password or security information must be reported to Justlaw immediately.
- Justlaw reserves the right not to act on a campaigner’s instructions if it reasonably suspects that the person logged into the campaigners account is not the campaigner or it suspects unauthorized use or fraudulent activity.
- JAfter a campaigner submits details about its campaign to the site, and its campaign has been accepted for publication by Justlaw, the campaigner may, subject to these Terms, publish its Campaign on the site. Any such decision is subject to our limitation of liability set out below in these Terms.
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Justlaw may evaluate a campaign Page and/or the campaign and decide, at its sole discretion, whether to permit the publication of the campaign Page on the site. By publishing a campaign page on the site,you represent, warrant and undertake on a continuous basis to Justlaw, contributors and any users of the site that:
- you have attained the age of majority, alternatively if you have not so attained age of majority that you are using the service and site with the consent and supervision of a parent or legal guardian who is at least 18 years old and that that parent or legal guardian agrees to be bound by these Terms and agrees to be responsible for the campaigners use of the Service;
- your Campaign Page gives an accurate summary of the issues (legal and otherwise) in the Campaign and the purposes for which the funds raised will be used;
- you will use all funds raised in a Successful Campaign to pay directly and solely for the legal fees and disbursements and attendant costs associated with the Campaign as described on the Campaign Page;
- you will inform Justlaw of and return any unused funds to the site in accordance with these Terms;
- you will comply with all applicable laws and regulations in relation to your campaign and your use of funds raised, and any offer of, or fulfilment of, Rewards;
- if you have offered Rewards on your Campaign Page, you will meet all commitments you make in relation to the delivery of Rewards you offer to contributors and use all reasonable endeavours to deliver Rewards by the time specified by you on your Campaign Page and if not specified, in a timely fashion;
- you will be responsible for paying all fees and collecting and remitting all applicable taxes (including VAT) connected with your use of the site, the Campaign, the Pledges you receive and the Rewards you offer;
- pledges and contributions received via your Campaign Page will not be used directly or indirectly for fraudulent, criminal, nefarious or otherwise improper purposes;
- no offensive, obscene, racist, defamatory, misleading or deceptive content, including photographs,videos, or text, will be uploaded on the site or in any email correspondence with contributors;
- the content you upload does not breach any intellectual property rights of third parties;
- you agree to comply with all local, national and international rules regarding online conduct. Specifically, you agree to comply with all applicable laws regarding electronic commerce and charitable funding, and regarding the transmission of technical data exported from South Africa or the country in which you reside.
- Your use of this site constitutes acceptance of these Terms, which take effect on the date of your first use of the Site.
- Justlaw may make changes to these Terms at any time by posting same on the site. Any changes will apply to users, campaigners and contributors seven days after the date of posting the modified terms on the site. Continued use of the site after that period has expired means that you accept any such changes. You should ensure that you refresh your browser each time you visit the site to review the latest version of these Terms.
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7. Acceptable use
- Campaigners and contributors must ensure that all information supplied by them is true, accurate, and up-to-date at all times.
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Campaigners and contributors agree to use this Site only for lawful purposes and in a manner which;
- does not contravene any local, national and international laws which includes but is not limited to any rule, regulation, statute, decree, covenant, edict; and
- does not infringe the rights or restrict or inhibit the use and enjoyment of the site by any third party.
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Campaigners and contributors are solely responsible for any information submitted by them to this Site. Campaigners and contributors hereby agree that any content posted by them on the Site will not:
- be misleading;
- break any law or encourage an illegal act;
- be defamatory, abusive or offensive;
- infringe the copyright, privacy, confidentiality or other right of any third party;
- contain software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to affect the use of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications network; and/or
- bring Justlaw or the Justlaw website into disrepute.
- Campaigners and contributors must not under any circumstances seek to undermine the security of the Site or any information submitted to or available through it.
- Campaigners and contributors agree to indemnify Justlaw and keep Justlaw indemnified against all costs, expenses, claims, losses, liabilities or proceedings arising from misuse by them of this Site.
- While this Site is intended for South African residents, it may be used by residents of other jurisdictions who are subject to South African Laws and/or are directly affected by same and/or have a legal campaign predicated on South African laws. Users of this Site in jurisdictions outside South Africa should be aware of, and observe, all applicable legal requirements in their jurisdictions. All Users should ensure that they are able to use this Site without contravention of legal restrictions in the jurisdiction in which they reside.
- Users are responsible for ensuring that all persons who access this Site through their internet connection are aware of these Terms, and that they comply with them.
- Justlaw reserves the right to not accept campaigns that are unsuitable for the platform.
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8. Contributors
- As a Contributor, you are solely responsible for asking questions and investigating Campaigns to the extent you feel is necessary before you contribute to a campaign. All Contributions are made voluntarily and at your sole discretion and risk.
- Justlaw doesn’t guarantee that Contributions will be used as promised, that Campaign Owners will deliver Incentives, or that the Campaign will achieve its goals.
- Justlaw does not endorse, guarantee, make representations, or provide warranties for or about the quality, safety, morality or legality of any Campaign, Incentive or Contribution, or the truth or accuracy of content posted on the Service.
- You are solely responsible for determining how to treat your Contribution and receipt of any Incentives for tax purposes. In the event you are issued a refund on your Contribution because of our inability to disburse funds to a Campaign Owner, you will no longer be entitled to delivery of any Incentives associated with your contribution.
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9. Limitations of liability
- While every effort has been taken to ensure that all content is correct and not misleading, Justlaw cannot and does not verify all the information contained on this Site. Campaigners are fully responsible for the accuracy of the information disclosed on this Site in relation to campaigns and it is your sole responsibility as a user and or contributor to verify the information.
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Justlaw does not accept any liability, either express or implied, for any direct, indirect or consequential loss suffered due to the accuracy or completeness of information contained on the campaigner’s pages of this Site. This limitation includes, but is not restricted to:
- loss of income or revenue;
- loss of business;
- loss of profits or contracts;
- loss of anticipated savings;
- wasted expenditure or time;
- loss of goodwill;
- or other loss or damage of any kind, however arising and whether caused wilfully or by negligence,breach of contract or otherwise, whether foreseeable or not.
- Justlaw hereby excludes itself from liability of any consequence arising and or connected to all representations, warranties and conditions related to the use of this Site and your use of it to the maximum extent permitted by law.
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10. Contributions
Risks of contributing to a campaign featured on this Site- Justlaw is committed to providing a secure platform for users and contributors to provide support to campaigns profiled on this Site.
- Justlaw shall ensure that campaigns seeking to raise funding through this Site do so for Projects which in Justlaw’s reasonable opinion will in sum, create and or increase access to justice.
- The profiling of campaigns on this Site should not be taken as endorsement.
- Justlaw is in no way responsible for and does not control the activities of campaigners. By agreeing to participate in any campaign or otherwise using this Site, you understand that Justlaw makes no representation or warranty in relation to the activities of the campaigner and or the campaign and accepts no liability for any loss as a result of a campaigner’s acts or omissions.
- Prospective contributors should be aware that any funds given by them to campaigns will be unsecured. Supporting a campaign involves significant risks and contributors may not recover all or part of any funds given, therefore they should not participate in a campaign unless they can readily bear the consequences of such a loss. Justlaw does not accept responsibility for the partial or total loss of any funds given to a campaign featured on this Site.
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Prospective contributors acknowledge that:
Projections
- Justlaw makes no projections as to the veracity, eligibility, likelihood of success and anticipated direction of a campaign that appears on this Site.
- The extent to which campaigners will be able to achieve their objectives may depend on factors outside their control, for which Justlaw does not accept responsibility.
- Campaigners may offer Rewards for different Pledge amounts.
- Rewards offered cannot be amended after the Campaign Period has begun.
- At the end of a Campaign, contributors can elect to claim their Reward, at which time relevant details necessary for the fulfilment of the Reward will be passed to the contributor. Contributors must treat those details in accordance with these Terms and applicable law.
- Campaigners must have all the permissions, consents and licences that are necessary and must comply with applicable law to offer all Rewards relating to their campaign before they offer them on their Campaign Page.
- Rewards associated with campaigns featured on this Site are supplied by the campaigner to its contributors directly. Justlaw plays no role in the transfer of such Rewards and makes no representations or warranties regarding the appearance, quality, adequacy or suitability of such Rewards.
- Justlaw is under no legal or contractual obligation to provide to any user or contributor of the Rewards that appear on this Site. By participating in a campaign, you acknowledge that Justlaw is not responsible and shall bear no liability if for any reason the campaign fails, whether in whole or in part, to provide a Reward associated with a campaign.
- It is not intended that anything stated in this Site should be construed as investment advice or as an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity and this Site and that the communications made on or through it are not therefore regulated financial promotions.
- Any person who is in any doubt about contributing to a campaign featured on this Site should consult an independent financial advisor or other appropriately qualified persons.
- Funds raised in a Campaign will be transferred to the contributor’s legal representative and other service providers, including but not limited to counsel, researchers, sheriff’s, agents, messengers, experts whatever the case may be, save for where the campaign Owner is an approved public benefit organisation and or a non-profit organisation in which circumstances funds will be transferred to the campaign owners. directly (in each case, the “Recipient”).
- The campaign owner must notify Justlaw of the identity and contact information of the Recipient at the time of submitting information about its campaign. In the event a campaign owner withdraws its instructions to the Recipient before the end of the Campaign Period, the campaign owner must notify Justlaw immediately. A failure to do so will constitute a breach of these Terms.
- The timing of transfer of funds raised in a Campaign (less the fees set out herein and any applicable taxes) to the Recipient may take several working days from the end of the Campaign Period, depending on how quickly our payment processor releases the funds. Campaign owners should take this into account when planning the allocation of funds raised following a Successful Campaign.
- Justlaw will hold the funds (less the fees set out herein and any other expenses Justlaw might from time to time need to charge the campaign owner) during this period. During such period (and until the funds are paid to the Recipient or Recipients), Justlaw is holding the funds in trust for the campaign owners as a service provider. It is agreed that Justlaw does not assume any duties of trusteeship other than the duty to retain and apply any such funds in accordance with these terms.
Rewards
Recipient
Transfer and Funds held in Trust
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11. Fee schedule
- it is free to create a campaign. However a campaigner will be charged a service fee of 5% for the campaign plus 5% per transaction in respect of each donation/contribution. This includes payment processing and compliance fees.
- Justlaw is, subject to applicable laws, authorised to deduct its fees together with any applicable taxes from the campaign owners.
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12. Contract between contributor and campaign owner
- Justlaw provides a funding platform for individuals and entities who require the provision of legal services however lack the financial resources to acquire them. Anyone who contributes to a campaign is in law regarded as (a donor) and the campaign owner becomes a donee. Once the money/contribution has been received a unilateral contract is concluded in terms of which, the donor is under no obligation to act, but does so out of pure liberality and benevolence by giving to the donee, something without expecting to receive anything in return.
- Justlaw is not a part of this contract. The contract is a direct legal agreement between the campaign owners and their contributors.
- When a campaign is successfully funded, the campaign owner must use the funds for the purpose advertised. Once a campaign owner has done this, it has satisfied its obligation to its contributors.
- Throughout the process, campaign owners owe their contributors a high standard of effort, honesty, transparency and a commitment to achieving the advertised goals of that campaign. Contributors must understand that there could be delays in a charity achieving what it has set out to do.
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13. Taxes
The Campaign Owner is solely responsible for:
- understanding that taxing authorities may classify funds raised through the Service as taxable income to the Campaign Owner and any beneficiary who will receive funds directly from the Campaign.
- treat and collect and remit any taxes on Contributions in connection with your Incentives - paying all fees and taxes associated with the use of the Service.
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14. Refund Policy
The Campaign Owner is solely responsible for:
- Once accepted by the donee (the campaign owner) a donation/contribution is an irrevocable and unconditional act. In the circumstances once a donation/contribution has been made using the Services, the contributor is not entitled to a refund unless, the campaign target had already been reached prior to their contribution being made and or the campaign target was reached as a result of their contribution and a portion thereof remains as funds in excess of the campaign target (in that regard the contributor is only entitled to a refund of the excedd funds) and or the campaign owner agrees to the refund and arrangements are made directly with the campaign owner. Once a campaign owner has refunded the contributor it has no further obligation to that contributor, and no further agreement exists between the two parties.
- Contributors MUST request any and all refunds, in terms of 14.1 above, directly from the Campaign Owner.
- Campaign owners are obliged to update their campaign page and indicate how close they are to reaching the campaign target. In this regard campaign owners are obliged to advise all current and prospective contributors once the campaign target has been reached.
- A campaign owner is entitled to retain funds in excess of the campaign target pending the finalisation of the campaign. However campaign owners are obliged to return donations/contributions made in excess of the campaign target if the contributor so demands. However if no such demand is made by contributors who donated funds subsequent to the campaign target being reached and have not demanded a refund the campaign owner is entitled to use those for any purpose in furtherance of the campaign goal pending the finalisation of the campaign.
- Once a campaign has been finalised, irrespective of whether or not it has been successful, the campaign owner is obliged to refund contributors who donated subsequent to the campaign target being reached but who did not demand a refund as the campaign had not been finalised at that stage.
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15. Termination
- Justlaw reserves the right to cancel a Project profile and refund all associated Backers’ payments at any time for any reason without notice.
- Justlaw may terminate your access to all or any part of this Site at any time for any reason without notice, and may change, suspend or discontinue all or any part of its online services at any time without notice.
- If Justlaw terminates your access to this Site or suspends your account for any reason other than a breach of these Terms or as a result of criminal activity, we will endeavour to return any funds that belong to you within twenty-one (21) days. In situations where funds have already been transferred to a Project, the Project will have a continuing duty to use its reasonable endeavours to provide to you directly the Rewards associated with the Project for which you have provided Support.
- Justlaw reserves the right to suspend accounts with no transaction history for a continuous period of two (2) years. Justlaw will make all reasonable endeavours to notify the account holder prior to the suspension of an account in the following ways: 1) a notification email two years after the account’s last transaction; 2) a second notification email fourteen (14) days after the first notification email is sent; 3) a final notification email fourteen (14) days after the second notification email.
- If the account remains inactive within thirty (30) days after the final notification email is sent, it will be suspended. The account holder will forfeit sums held in the account and they will be non-refundable. Justlaw reserves the right to transfer the funds to a charitable organisation of its choice.
- All provisions of these Terms which either expressly or impliedly survive termination or expiry of these Terms shall survive termination or expiry, including but not limited to Terms regarding warranty disclaimers, indemnities and limitations of liability.
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16. Enforceability
- These Terms are only intended to be enforceable by you and Justlaw. A person who is not a party to these Terms has no right to enforce any of these Terms.
- If any of these Terms are determined to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, then they shall be severed and deleted from these Terms without affecting the enforceability of the remaining provisions.
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17. Governing Law
- These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa.
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18. Dispute Resolution
- If any dispute arises in connection with these Terms, the parties will attempt to settle it by mediation in accordance with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) Model Mediation Procedure. Unless otherwise agreed between the parties, the mediator will be nominated by Justlaw, the mediation will be conducted in Johannesburg and all negotiations up to and including the mediation shall be strictly confidential.
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19. Jurisdiction
- The courts of South Africa shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute arising out of these Terms (including a dispute regarding the existence, validity or termination of all or part of these Terms or the consequences of its nullity).
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20. Payment options accepted
- Payment may be made via Visa and MasterCard.
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21. Customer Privacy policy
- Justlaw Crowdfunding shall take all reasonable steps to protect the personal information of users. For the purpose of this clause, "personal information" shall be defined as detailed in the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (PAIA). The PAIA may be downloaded from: polity.org. Also please see our privacy policy.
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22. Card acquiring and security
- Card transactions will be acquired for Justlaw Crowdfunding via PayGate (Pty) Ltd who are the approved payment gateway for all South African Acquiring Banks. PayGate uses the strictest form of encryption, namely Secure Socket Layer 3 (SSL3) and no Card details are stored on the website. Users may go to www.paygate.co.za to view their security certificate and security policy
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23. Customer details separate from card details
- Customer details will be stored by (Your Company) separately from card details which are entered by the client on PayGate’s secure site. For more detail on PayGate refer to www.paygate.co.za.
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23. Customer details separate from card details
- Customer details will be stored by (Your Company) separately from card details which are entered by the client on PayGate’s secure site. For more detail on PayGate refer to www.paygate.co.za.
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24. Merchant Outlet country and transaction currency
- The merchant outlet country at the time of presenting payment options to the cardholder is South Africa. Transaction currency is South African Rand (ZAR).
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25. Responsibility
- Justlaw Crowdfunding takes responsibility for all aspects relating to the transaction including sale of goods and services sold on this website, customer service and support, dispute resolution and delivery of goods.
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26. Variation
- Justlaw Crowdfunding may, in its sole discretion, change this agreement or any part thereof at any time without notice.
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27. Company information
- This website is run by Justlaw Crowdfunding Pty (Ltd) based in South Africa with registration number 2018 / 111371 / 07 and Lunga Siyo & Thabo Titus.
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27. Company contact details
- Address: 165 Mountainview Drive, Westlake Country and Safari Estate, Skeerpoort, Email: info@justlawcf.co.za, Phone: (+27) 084 770 8782
- This document was last updated on March 28, 2019