LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Moritz Blasy, Nicolai Binkert, Simon Ott and Kathrin Binder, Schurti Partners Attorneys at Law Ltd
3.3 Jurisdictional Requirements for a Defendant
Such restrictions do not apply to others, such as third- party litigation funders, whose compensation typically consists of a percentage of the awarded amounts. 2.7 Time Limit for Obtaining Third-Party Funding As there are no specific rules dealing with litigation funding, there are no time limits by when a litigant should obtain third-party funding.
The general rule of jurisdiction is that Liechtenstein courts have jurisdiction if the defendant is domiciled in Liechtenstein. In addition, the Liechtenstein Act on Jurisdiction ( Jurisdiktionsnorm ) provides for vari- ous special jurisdictions that allow claimants to bring actions in Liechtenstein against defendants who are not domiciled in Liechtenstein. For example, Liechten- stein courts assume jurisdiction for contractual claims when the defendant performs its obligations in Liech- tenstein, for claims against defendants with assets located in Liechtenstein, and for claims concerning real estate located in Liechtenstein, they assume juris- diction as well. Furthermore, parties to a contract or a dispute can generally agree on the jurisdiction of the Liechtenstein courts. Because Acts of the European Union only apply to EU member states, the Brussels Ia Regulation is not applicable in Liechtenstein. Also, while Liechtenstein is a member of the European Free Trade Association together with Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, it is not a party to the Lugano Convention 2007. 3.4 Initial Complaint As a general rule, a lawsuit is initiated by means of a written statement of claim, which is to be filed with the District Court. The claimant must clearly identify the parties, their procedural roles (ie, claimant or defend- ant), their representatives (if any) and the subject mat- ter of the lawsuit, in the statement of claim. Claimants must also include a pleading of the facts on which they are relying, the evidence upon which they intend to rely, and the remedy for which they are asking. Once the defendant has been served with the state- ment of claim, the factual basis of the claim and the remedy sought may only be modified with the consent of the defendant or with the approval of the court, which will be granted if the court concludes that no significant complication or delay of the matter is to be expected as a result of the amendment. However, the pleading of new facts and the introduction of new evidence supporting the claim are, in principle, admis- sible throughout the whole procedure at first instance, unless the court concludes that such new facts or evidence were not introduced earlier out of gross neg-
3. Initiating a Lawsuit 3.1 Rules on Pre-Action Conduct
The Liechtenstein Civil Procedure Code does not prescribe any particular pre-action conduct, and the court cannot impose any such conduct on the parties. However, a person intending to file a claim against a respondent who is resident in Liechtenstein may, on a voluntary basis, apply for the summons of the oppo- nent for purposes of settlement negotiations before lodging the claim. The opponent is under no obligation to follow such summons, and non-appearance by the opponent has no consequences whatsoever. 3.2 Statutes of Limitations Under Liechtenstein law, statutes of limitation are considered a matter of substantive law rather than procedural law. Under Liechtenstein substantive law, the ordinary limi- tation period is 30 years. There are currently efforts to reduce the ordinary limitation period to ten years. However, this won’t apply to claims that are legally established or arise from enforceable settlements or documents. As a general rule, the limitation period commences when the respective right or claim can be exercised for the first time. However, the afore- said is only a general rule to which numerous excep- tions exist as a matter of statutory law. For example, the limitation period for various types of contractual claims is only five years. Other claims, such as claims to challenge a will, are subject to an even shorter limi- tation period of three years. The courts do not take statutes of limitation into account ex officio. Rather, it is up to the parties to raise a respective objection.
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