LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Moritz Blasy, Nicolai Binkert, Simon Ott and Kathrin Binder, Schurti Partners Attorneys at Law Ltd
vote. Further, it is stated that no arbitrator shall abstain from voting. As a matter of the Liechtenstein Arbitration Law, an arbitral award shall be issued in writing, showing the date on which it was rendered and the seat of the arbi - tral tribunal. In the absence of any agreement between the parties, (i) it suffices when the arbitral award is signed by the majority of arbitrators (the award shall name the reasons for the absence of the signatures), and (ii) the award shall state the grounds which led to the decision. In fact, the Liechtenstein Rules contain the same provisions on the form of the arbitral award. Neither the Liechtenstein Arbitration Law nor the Liechtenstein Rules stipulate time limits within which the arbitration award must be delivered. 10.2 Types of Remedies The Liechtenstein Arbitration Law does not contain any specific provisions on the types of remedies that an arbitral tribunal may award. In general, the awarded remedy shall be defined by reference to the applicable substantive law on merits. However, there are limits to be considered. For example, an arbitral award ren - dered in Liechtenstein must not contravene public policy in Liechtenstein (“ordre public”). A rendered arbitral award which is not in accordance with Liech - tenstein public policy is vulnerable to being set aside by the Liechtenstein Court of Appeal. In regard to punitive damages, it has to be said that this remedy is unknown under Liechtenstein law and might be considered a violation of the Liechtenstein public policy. 10.3 Recovering Interest and Legal Costs The recovery of interest being a question of the appli - cable substantive law (rather than the procedural law) from a Liechtenstein law perspective, the Liechten - stein Arbitration Law does not contain any provisions in this respect. In regard to the entitlement of a party to recover costs, the Liechtenstein Arbitration Law provides that the arbitral tribunal shall decide on the recovery of costs upon termination of the arbitration proceedings, unless the parties have agreed otherwise. Concern -
ing the allocation of the costs between the parties, the arbitral tribunal has to take into consideration all aspects of the case, in particular the outcome of the proceedings. The pertinent provision of the Liechtenstein Rules states that the arbitral tribunal shall decide on the costs of arbitration in its arbitral award. The Liechten - stein Rules are based on the so-called “loser pays” principle. However, the arbitral tribunal may decide on a different allocation of costs if it considers it appropri - ate in light of the circumstances of the case. The grounds for challenging an arbitral award, accord - ing to the Liechtenstein Arbitration Law, correspond largely with the grounds provided for in the UNCI - TRAL Model Law. Notably, the Liechtenstein Arbitra - tion Law contains two significant deviations from the UNCITRAL Model Law in this respect: (i) the challenge must be submitted within four weeks of the date of receipt of the award, and (ii) the Liechtenstein Arbitra - tion Law provides only for one ordinary instance for setting aside the award (ie, the Liechtenstein Court of Appeal). The procedure is public in principle, but the public may be excluded upon request of a party if the party has a legitimate interest. Moreover, any person involved in the proceedings may ban third parties from being granted access to the files. 11. Review of an Award 11.1 Grounds for Appeal In summary, the distinctive features of the Liechten - stein Arbitration Law ensure that swift and confiden - tial arbitral proceedings are not thwarted by lengthy and public proceedings before the ordinary courts. As mentioned, the Liechtenstein Court of Appeal ren - ders a final decision against which no further ordinary appeal is admissible. While, in theory, a complaint to the Constitutional Court in case of a violation of Con - stitutional Law is possible, the Constitutional Court has held that arbitral awards are only to a very limited extent bound by constitutional norms. In particular, an arbitral award will not be reviewed on the grounds of
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