LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Christoph Bruckschweiger, Benedikt König, Philipp Benda and Magdalena Marxer-Friedrich, paragraph 7
• Third Instance: The Princely Supreme Court ( Fürstlicher Oberster Gerichtshof ) serves as the final appellate court, reviewing cases strictly on points of law. Restrictions on Supreme Court Appeals In contentious proceedings, appeals are generally inadmissible if the dispute value is below CHF5,000 or if the dispute value is below CHF50,000 and the appellate court entirely confirmed the first-instance decision. In non-contentious matters, an appeal is generally precluded if both lower courts have issued identical rulings. Constitutional Review Beyond the ordinary appellate process, final deci- sions can be challenged before the Constitutional Court ( Staatsgerichtshof ). This extraordinary avenue is strictly limited to cases alleging a direct violation of a party’s constitutionally guaranteed rights. Expected Duration of Proceedings The Liechtenstein judiciary is internationally connect- ed and considered highly efficient by global standards. A significant majority of standard civil proceedings are concluded in under two years. However, complex dis- putes can take considerably longer, particularly when parties exhaust all available levels of appeal. 2.5 Confidentiality Liechtenstein court proceedings are typically open to the public. However, the court can grant an exclusion to protect public order, ensure an undisturbed pro- cedure, or shield private family facts and confidential business information from disclosure. 2.6 Interim Relief In Liechtenstein, interim relief measures are commonly sought and frequently recommended in legal disputes to secure claims before a final judgment is issued. Because interim relief aims to provide effective pro- tection, it must be granted and enforced quickly. Therefore, the underlying claim and the risk to its enforcement only need to be prima facie established (certified) rather than fully proven. There are two main types of interim remedies:
• Security of Monetary Claims ( Sicherungsbot ): Interim relief may be granted to secure a mon- etary claim if there is a concrete risk that enforce- ment would be frustrated or significantly hindered without such a measure. Alternatively, relief may be granted if the claimant certifies the claim and shows an objective risk that enforcement would need to take place abroad, while no sufficient assets are available in Liechtenstein. A particular feature of Liechtenstein law is that an applicant is not only informed – by way of the third-party debtor’s statement within 14 days – whether assets have been successfully frozen but also obtains a lien over those frozen assets. • Security of Non-Monetary Claims (“official order”, Amtsbefehl ): This form of interim relief applies to non-monetary claims, such as claims for perfor- mance, acquiescence, or omission. The applicant must assert and certify both the claim and the risk that, without interim relief, the enforcement or reali- sation of the claim would be frustrated or consider- ably more difficult. 2.7 Final Relief In commercial disputes in Liechtenstein, the court may issue the following types of decisions, which constitute final relief: • monetary judgments, including payment of dam- ages; • performance judgments requiring a party to act, such as fulfilling obligations or refraining from cer- tain actions; • declaratory judgments confirming legal rights or positions; and/or • judgments creating a legal fiction of the submission of a declaration of intent. 2.8 Damages Liechtenstein courts consider both the type of dam- age and the fault of the wrongdoer when assessing damages. Compensation is based on the difference principle: the injured party should be placed in the position they would have been in had the damaging event not occurred. In cases of gross fault, both positive damage (eg, replacement value) and lost profits are taken into
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