LIECHTENSTEIN Trends and Developments Contributed by: Michael Nueber and Philipp Konzett, Nueber Konzett
Result: A Good Reform The revised reform bill was passed on 1 October 2024 in the second reading. These legislative amendments will come into effect on 1 January 2026. The most sig- nificant legislative amendments are briefly presented below. As outlined in the 2025 version of this guide , there have been discussions about a potential reform of the Liechtenstein judicial system, including proposals to abolish the Supreme Court entirely. Contrary to the initial proposal, it was concluded that the three-tier judicial system should be preserved. The Court of First Instance ( Fürstliches Landgericht ) in Vaduz there- fore is the sole first-instance court in Liechtenstein, responsible for all contentious and non-contentious civil matters falling within Liechtenstein’s interna- tional jurisdiction. The losing party may appeal its decisions to the Court of Appeal ( Fürstliches Ober- gericht ) in Vaduz, which has full jurisdiction including competence to decide on questions of fact. Unless the Court of Appeal fully confirms the decision of the Court of First Instance, and unless the disputed value is less than CHF50,000, parties may appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decisions to the Liechtenstein Supreme Court ( Fürstlicher Oberster Gerichtshof ). This system, which has a proven record of over 100 years, will continue to exist under the new reform. Decisions of the Court of Appeal that cannot be appealed to the Supreme Court, as well as decisions of the Supreme Court in general – with some minor exceptions – are subject to an extraordinary appeal to the Constitutional Court on the grounds of con- stitutional rights violations. Traditionally, this route is quite attractive for the losing party, not only because it is relatively inexpensive, but also because it can be an easy means to delay the finalisation of a verdict. Despite this relatively openly acknowledged deficien- cy in Liechtenstein’s judicial system, the position of the Constitutional Court has not been subject to any serious reform discussion. Another crucial element of the new reform is the incor- poration of the Administrative Court ( Verwaltungsger- ichtshof ) into the Supreme Court. Undisputed in the legislation process, this implementation follows the
original proposal of the government and serves to consolidate organisational and personnel structures. Two full-time judge positions will also be created at the Supreme Court to strengthen its professionalisa- tion. In the future, the court will decide in three-judge panels instead of the previous five-judge panels. Other than the two full-time positions at the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court will henceforth share a pool of judges. It is hoped that this will increase specialisation. Through the distribu- tion of cases, full-time and part-time judges can be assigned to the panels, so that specialised panels can be formed in various areas of law, such as civil law, criminal law, financial market law, tax law or social security law. A new development will be the integration of the Administrative Court into the Supreme Court. Due to the organisational and personnel challenges involved, as well as for the purposes of efficiency, the question arose as to how the Administrative Court can best be professionalised. Until now, the Administrative Court – after all the highest ordinary instance in administrative issues – was manned by a senate of part-time judges, which more and more proved inadequate given the ever-increasing caseload. Although the number of cases was too much for a part-time senate, it was not enough for full-time judges. Appointing only full- time judges as president and deputy president would not allow sufficient flexibility in terms of workforce allocation and capacity. The chosen solution is to integrate the Administrative Court’s agenda into the competences of another court, in this case the newly professionalised Supreme Court. Other Changes to the Legal Landscape Proceedings at the administrative court In addition, the number of panels will no longer be determined by law, but rather by the distribution of business at the Supreme Court, in order to ensure greater flexibility in the selection of specialised panels. In this context, the establishment of a “pool of judges” at the Supreme Court is already planned. With the judiciary reform coming into effect, the cur- rent members of the Supreme Court and their substi- tutes, as well as the judges and substitute judges of
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