Penalex Avocats SA (hereinafter: “penalex”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is a law firm organized in the form of a limited liability company whose purpose is to provide legal services, mainly in criminal matters, to clients in Switzerland and abroad by lawyers registered in a Swiss register of lawyers.

We also offer e-commerce services to make legal services accessible to all individuals and companies. We offer training, legal advice, downloadable documents, online appointment scheduling, 24-hour response from a criminal lawyer, and credits for consultations or interventions.

This platform is owned and operated by penalex.

These general terms and conditions of use are addressed to and apply to all users of and visitors to the Platform.

The use of our services implies the acceptance and respect of all the terms of the present TOS. We reserve the right to change these TOU at any time and, in the event of a material change, will provide you with timely notice of such changes on this site or in another appropriate manner.

By using our services, you agree to the use of third-party services according to the terms of those platforms. In particular, penalex is operated via WordPress CMS on which we install several tools (plugins) developed by third parties. We make sure that we only use such services if they guarantee your privacy and the confidentiality of your data.

You can find more information about how we respect your privacy on our privacy policy.

The user is solely responsible for the proper functioning of his computer equipment as well as his access to the Internet to access penalex and communicate with us.

penalex makes every reasonable effort to ensure quality access to the service, but is under no obligation to do so. Furthermore, penalex cannot be held responsible for any network or server malfunction or any other event beyond its reasonable control, which would prevent or degrade access to the site. The same applies to third-party services that may be accessible through our site.

We reserve the right to interrupt, temporarily suspend or modify without notice access to all or part of the service, in order to ensure maintenance, or for any other reason, without the interruption giving rise to any obligation or compensation. penalex reserves the right to refuse access to the service, unilaterally and without prior notification, to any user who does not respect these general conditions of use.

When you visit our site, you will access information as well as several free or paid services through our e-commerce service, such as:

• Online legal services and other advisory services
• Documentation and packs to download;
• A portal for booking appointments in person or online;
• Training for companies in specific areas of criminal law;
• Credits for consultations or interventions.

When you order free or paid services or products, you must create an account and provide us with a minimum of information to ensure your interest in these products. This also allows us to limit credit card fraud.

Use of services in general

The penalex services are used by private and public persons to contact penalex, purchase products or order services offered by penalex.

You agree to use our services in compliance with applicable laws and to submit any information that would allow us to prevent conflicts of interest.

Your use of penalex services is also subject to any other agreements you may have with us, such as the Terms and Conditions. When you become a member of penalex or register and create an account, either free of charge or through a subscription, these terms of use apply to you.

In the event of a conflict between these Terms and any other agreement you may have with us, the terms of your agreement will prevail.

Prohibition to offer our services to third parties

Unless you have our prior written consent, you may not use the services of our platform for any purpose other than those provided for by our platform. In particular, you must comply with the personal license granted to you to use the service. In case of use by other persons who are not authorized or declared or at the time of an order we may require you to pay an additional license.

It is forbidden to reuse our services for commercial purposes or for your own account or the account of others, with a view to reselling, renting, offsetting with other claims, putting it in usufruct, decompiling it. Our services and the content of our site are protected by copyright and such acts could be considered unfair competition.

You may not use them to harm others.

Use by registered members on penalex

You undertake to provide us only with information that is true and accurate, particularly in the event of a dispute or litigation with an opposing party. In addition, you agree to use all necessary caution to minimize the transmission of sensitive or risky personal information.

You agree not to create profiles for third parties, fake profiles, or post links to third party sites or any content that is illegal, inappropriate or immoral.

You may not use our services for commercial purposes (sale, resale, rental, assignment, etc. of our services to third parties) without our prior written consent.

By minors

All minors need to be better protected when using online services, but also to prevent any fraudulent or abusive use of a minor’s published data.

If you are a minor, you must have the authorization of your legal representative to contract with our platform. Because it is difficult for us to verify your age online, we may ask you or your legal representative for identification or to validate the opening of your account in writing or orally to obtain their consent.

Your account on penalex

You may request deletion of your account at any time from our online portal or at privacy@penalex.ch. We will delete all personal data except those we are required to retain for legal reasons. Please read our privacy policy for more information.

penalex excludes all liability for slight negligence.

penalex is not liable for breaches of contract due to slight negligence. This also applies to breaches of contract by auxiliaries and substitutes. Penalex is not liable for any errors that are not attributable to it, particularly those of telecommunication operators, the server or any other third party service provider such as social networks and online content distribution platforms.

For reasons of maintenance of the platform, the site may occasionally and temporarily be unavailable. Any maintenance of the site will be carried out, as far as possible, outside office hours and preferably during the weekend. As the site is accessible from all over the world, maintenance will be performed outside of office hours in Switzerland.

You are bound by the Terms of Use of the Site and are responsible for the content you submit to penalex. In no event shall we be liable for any breach or infringement of intellectual property rights or for any damage caused to third parties. You will indemnify us for any amount claimed by a third party as a result of conduct attributable to you, whether direct or indirect.

Our referencing on search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing) and on social networks is done automatically. Penalex cannot guarantee or control the referencing on these search engines and therefore cannot be held responsible for positioning and visibility. penalex is in no way responsible for the content of external sites or sources referring to penalex.

The penalex.ch website is protected by intellectual property rights and as a business name. penalex is the exclusive owner of all intellectual property rights to the site and its contents (texts, images, logos, scripts, database, architecture, etc.) as well as the Swiss trademark registered with the Federal Office of Intellectual Property.

The content reproduced on the site is subject to copyright and its reproduction or dissemination, without the express written authorization of penalex, constitutes an infringement punishable by law.

Any use of our content requires our express prior consent.

You undertake to treat the products available online, the system access data provided and the passwords created with the utmost confidentiality and care.

penalex reserves the right to immediately terminate the access authorization in the event that it is found that the use of the Service is illicit or contrary to the scope of the license granted to you to use the Service.

penalex excludes all liability for fraudulent use of your account, due to an insufficiently sophisticated or easily detectable password or fraudulent use of your computer or e-mail address.

Should individual provisions of these terms and conditions be ineffective, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. The ineffective provisions will be replaced by the analogous legal provisions.

The contractual relationship between the customer and penalex is subject to Swiss substantive law, excluding the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods of April 11, 1980.

The ordinary court of the district of East Vaud (Vevey) is competent for disputes arising from the present contract. In case of a contract concluded with a consumer, the place of jurisdiction is the company’s registered office, alternatively the place of residence.

These terms and conditions are effective as of May 1, 2022.