LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Simon Ott, Andreas Vogel, Husmira Halis and Felix Bayer, Schurti Partners Attorneys at Law Ltd
increases if the damage exceeds a certain amount or if several computer systems are affected (eg, the sen - tence is imprisonment of six months up to five years if the caused damage exceeds CHF300,000). The Liechtenstein Criminal Code provides for the fol - lowing provisions dealing with the breach of company secrets. • The violation of a business or trade secret which the perpetrator by law was obliged to protect is punished with imprisonment of up to one year or a monetary penalty of up to 720 daily units. The perpetrator is only prosecuted upon the demand of the person whose confidentiality interest has been violated. • Espionage of a business or trade secret with the intent to exploit it or to disclose it to the public is punished with imprisonment of up to two years. The perpetrator is only prosecuted upon the demand of the aggrieved party. • Espionage of a business or trade secret with the intent to exploit it or to disclose it to a foreign state is punished with imprisonment of up to three years. Further, the Liechtenstein Unfair Competition Act pun - ishes the intentional unlawful acquisition, use, and disclosure of a trade secret as well as the breach of the obligation to maintain the confidentiality of trade secrets in the course of legal proceedings. Therefore, specific conditions were stipulated as to whether and to what extent trade secrets can be disclosed in the course of proceedings and how this information is to be treated by the court. The violation of trade secrets is punishable with imprisonment of up to one year or a monetary penalty of up to 360 daily rates. In line with these provisions, the Liechtenstein Criminal Proce - dure Code provides for the possibility to exclude the public from hearings if otherwise a business or trade secret would be jeopardised. 3.10 Financial/Trade/Customs Sanctions According to the Law on the Enforcement of Interna - tional Sanctions ( Gesetz über die Durchsetzung inter- nationaler Sanktionen – ISG), coercive measures may be taken to enforce international sanctions decided by, inter alia, the United Nations and Liechtenstein’s most important trading partners. These sanctions
include direct or indirect restrictions on the movement of goods, services, payments, capital, and persons, as well as on scientific, technological, and cultural exchanges, and prohibitions, authorisation, notifica - tion, and other restrictions on rights. On the basis of the Law on the Enforcement of Inter - national Sanctions, numerous coercive measures have been adopted. The Liechtenstein Financial Intel - ligence Unit is responsible for monitoring the imple - mentation of these measures. Anyone who intention - ally violates these coercive measures is punishable by the Princely District Court with imprisonment of up to three years or a monetary penalty of up to 360 daily rates. In the event of a negligence commission of the offence, the upper limit of the penalty is reduced to half the amount of the penalty. The Princely District Court further imposes fines for the infringements of provisions of the Law on the Enforcement of Interna - tional Sanctions (eg, for the breaches of notification obligations). 3.11 Concealment According to Liechtenstein criminal law, a person who supports the perpetrator of a punishable act against the assets of another person in concealing or realis - ing an object the perpetrator has obtained through that act is punishable with imprisonment of up to six months or with a monetary penalty of up to 360 daily rates. If the concealed object has a value of more than CHF7,500 or CHF300,000, the sentence is imprison - ment of up to two years or imprisonment of six months to five years respectively. The latter sentence also applies if the concealment is committed on a commercial basis. Predicate offences to concealment are offences against the assets of another person (eg, theft, fraud, or embezzlement). Since the perpetrator can be any person except the one who has committed the predi - cate offence, a person cannot be held liable for both the predicate offence and concealment. 3.12 Aiding and Abetting According to the Liechtenstein Criminal Code, not only is the immediate perpetrator criminally liable for the commission of an offence, but also every person
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