PAIA Manual

lawvero (Pty) Ltd (“lawvero”, “we”, “us”) is a private company that prepares legal documents at fixed or quoted fees and provides related administrative, filing and compliance services, including in respect of trusts, wills, commercial agreements, trade marks, company secretarial matters, FICA client verification, and PAIA and POPIA compliance. lawvero is a “private body” as defined in the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (“PAIA”).

Section 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 gives everyone the right of access to information held by another person that is required for the exercise or protection of any rights. PAIA gives effect to that right. Section 51 of PAIA requires a private body to compile a manual containing the information set out in this document.

This manual explains:

• who to contact to request access to our records;
• which records we hold, and which are available without a formal request;
• how we process personal information;
• how to submit a request, the fees payable and the timeframes; and
• the grounds on which access may be refused, and the remedies available to you.

This manual should be read with our POPIA Manual and Privacy Notice and our Website Terms and Conditions, which are available on our website.

In this manual:

1. (a)“Information Officer” means the head of lawvero as defined in section 1 of PAIA, or a person duly authorised by the head;
2. (b)“Information Regulator” means the Information Regulator established under section 39 of POPIA;
3. (c)“personal information”, “data subject”, “processing” and “operator” have the meanings given in POPIA;
4. (d)“POPIA” means the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013;
5. (e)“record” means any recorded information, regardless of form or medium, in lawvero’s possession or under its control, whether or not lawvero created it;
6. (f)“Regulations” means the Regulations relating to the Promotion of Access to Information, 2021 (GN R757 in Government Gazette 45057 of 27 August 2021); and
7. (g)“requester” means any person (including a public body or its official) making a request for access to a record of lawvero, or a person acting on their behalf.

All requests for access to records must be directed to the Information Officer:

No Deputy Information Officer has been designated at the date of this manual. If one is designated, this manual will be updated.

The Information Officer is registered with the Information Regulator.

The Information Regulator has, in terms of section 10 of PAIA, compiled a guide containing information to assist any person who wishes to exercise a right of access to information under PAIA and POPIA (the “Guide”). The Guide explains, among other things, the purpose of PAIA and POPIA, how to make a request, the assistance available from Information Officers and the Information Regulator, the remedies available, and the fees payable.

The Guide is available in the official languages on the Information Regulator’s website. A copy may also be inspected at our offices during normal business hours, or requested from our Information Officer.

The Information Regulator’s contact details are:

The following records are available without a formal PAIA request, either on our website or on request to the Information Officer (reproduction fees may apply to printed copies):

• information about lawvero and our services, including service descriptions and published prices;
• our Website Terms and Conditions;
• this PAIA Manual; and
• our POPIA Manual and Privacy Notice.

Where applicable, lawvero keeps records in accordance with the following legislation. Records that must be made available under this legislation are available on request, subject to the requirements of that legislation. This list is not exhaustive.

lawvero holds records on the following subjects and in the following categories. The fact that a category is listed does not mean that access to records in it will be granted; every request is considered in terms of PAIA, and access may be refused on the grounds in section 12 of this manual.

This section contains the information required by section 51(1)(c) of PAIA. Full details appear in our POPIA Manual and Privacy Notice.

Purposes of processing

We process personal information to: respond to enquiries; prepare documents and deliver our services; identify and verify clients and related persons as required by law and our risk procedures; lodge documents with and correspond with authorities on clients’ behalf; invoice and collect payment; comply with our legal, tax and regulatory obligations; manage our relationships with employees, contractors and suppliers; operate, secure and improve our website; conduct direct marketing in accordance with POPIA; and establish, exercise or defend legal rights.

Categories of data subjects and personal information

Recipients or categories of recipients

Personal information may be shared, where necessary and lawful, with: the Master of the High Court, CIPC, SARS, the Deeds Office, courts, the Financial Intelligence Centre and other authorities; independent legal practitioners who perform work that only legal practitioners may perform; auditors, accountants and professional advisers; banks; operators who provide services to us (such as cloud hosting, email, document storage, practice-management and CRM software, identity verification, website analytics and advertising, and artificial-intelligence services); couriers; and any person to whom we are required by law or court order to disclose it.

Planned transborder flows

Some of our operators store or process information on servers outside South Africa. We transfer personal information outside South Africa only in accordance with section 72 of POPIA, in particular, where the recipient is subject to a law, binding corporate rules or a binding agreement that provides an adequate level of protection, where the data subject consents, or where the transfer is necessary for the performance of a contract with, or in the interest of, the data subject.

Security measures

We apply appropriate, reasonable technical and organisational measures to secure the integrity and confidentiality of personal information, including role-based access controls and strong authentication on our systems, encrypted (HTTPS) connections on our website, the use of reputable cloud service providers, written agreements with operators requiring them to keep information confidential and secure, confidentiality undertakings from staff and contractors, and a procedure for identifying and responding to security compromises.

A request must be made on Form 2 (Request for Access to Record) prescribed in Annexure A to the Regulations. The form is available on the Information Regulator’s website and from our Information Officer on request. Submit the completed form to the Information Officer by email or by hand or post to the addresses in section 3.

The requester must provide enough detail to enable the Information Officer to identify:

1. (a)the record or records requested;
2. (b)the identity of the requester and, if the request is made on behalf of another person, proof of the capacity in which it is made;
3. (c)the form of access required (for example a copy or an inspection);
4. (d)the requester’s postal address, email address or other contact details in South Africa; and
5. (e)the right the requester is seeking to exercise or protect, and why the record is required for that purpose (section 53(2)(d) of PAIA).

A data subject who wishes to find out whether we hold personal information about them may ask us to confirm this free of charge in terms of section 23 of POPIA. A request for access to the personal information itself is dealt with under this manual. Requests for correction or deletion of personal information, or objections to processing, are made on the forms prescribed under POPIA (see our POPIA Manual and Privacy Notice).

If a requester needs assistance completing the form, the Information Officer will provide reasonable assistance free of charge.

The Information Officer will decide on a request as soon as reasonably possible and in any event within 30 days after receiving it, and will notify the requester of the decision, any access fee payable and the requester’s remedies.

The Information Officer may extend this period once, by up to a further 30 days, on the grounds allowed by section 57 of PAIA (for example, where a large number of records must be searched), and will notify the requester of the extension and the reasons for it.

If the Information Officer does not decide within the applicable period, the request is regarded as refused (section 58 of PAIA).

Fees are payable as prescribed in Annexure B to the Regulations. At the date of this manual:

1. (a)a request fee of R140.00 is payable before a request is processed, except where the requester is seeking access to a record containing their own personal information; and
2. (b)an access fee is payable before access is given, calculated according to Annexure B (for example, R2.00 per A4-size photocopied or printed page, and the prescribed amounts for electronic copies, transcriptions, and the time reasonably required to search for and prepare the record).

If the search for and preparation of a record would take more than six hours, the requester may be asked to pay a deposit of up to one third of the estimated access fee before the search begins (section 54 of PAIA). If access is refused, the deposit will be refunded.

lawvero is not a VAT vendor, and no VAT is added to these fees. The Information Officer will notify the requester of the fees payable. Fees are subject to change when the Regulations are amended.

Access to a record may or must be refused on the grounds set out in Chapter 4 of Part 3 of PAIA (sections 62 to 70), including where access would involve:

1. (a)the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about a third party who is a natural person (section 63);
2. (b)the disclosure of trade secrets, or financial, commercial, scientific or technical information of a third party, that could harm that third party’s commercial or financial interests (section 64);
3. (c)a breach of a duty of confidence owed to a third party in terms of an agreement (section 65);
4. (d)a risk to the life or physical safety of an individual, or to the security of property or systems (section 66);
5. (e)a record that would be privileged from production in legal proceedings, unless the privilege has been waived (section 67);
6. (f)lawvero’s own trade secrets, or financial, commercial, scientific or technical information that could harm its commercial or financial interests (section 68); or
7. (g)research information of lawvero or a third party (section 69).

Despite these grounds, access must be granted where section 70 of PAIA requires it in the public interest. Where only part of a record may be refused, the remaining part will be disclosed (section 59 of PAIA).

Many of the records we hold relate to our clients and to people connected to their matters. Requests for those records will be carefully assessed to protect the privacy and confidentiality of those persons.

Where a request is for a record that may contain information about a third party as contemplated in sections 63 to 65 of PAIA, the Information Officer will take all reasonable steps to notify that third party within 21 days, and the third party may make representations or consent to disclosure, as set out in sections 71 to 73 of PAIA.

lawvero is a private body, and there is no internal appeal against a decision of its Information Officer.

A requester or third party who is aggrieved by a decision of the Information Officer (including a refusal, a deemed refusal, a decision on fees or an extension of time) may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator in the prescribed form within 180 days of the decision (section 77A of PAIA).

A requester or third party may apply to a court for appropriate relief only after the complaint procedure with the Information Regulator has been exhausted (section 78 of PAIA).

This manual is available:

• on our website, www.lawvero.co.za;
• for inspection at our offices at 19 Mirzam Street, Midstream Ridge, Midstream, 1692, free of charge, during normal business hours;
• by email from the Information Officer at office@lawvero.co.za, free of charge; and
• to the Information Regulator on request.

A printed copy may be provided on payment of the prescribed reproduction fee.

This manual will be reviewed at least once a year, and whenever there is a material change to our records, processing activities or the applicable law.