LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Moritz Blasy, Nicolai Binkert, Simon Ott and Christian Scheffknecht, Schurti Partners Attorneys at Law Ltd
Swiss Confederation only. In addition, Liechtenstein is a party to the Hague Convention on Child Support. Therefore, judgments of foreign courts other than Austria and Switzerland, and other than child support judgments, are not directly enforceable in Liechten - stein. 3.3 Categories of Foreign Judgments Not Enforced The bilateral treaties concluded with the Republic of Austria and the Swiss Confederation only apply to judgments in civil matters. Also, both treaties exclude certain subject matters from their ambit, such as bank - ruptcy matters, and certain types of decisions, such as decisions on civil law claims entered in criminal 3.4 Process of Enforcing Foreign Judgments To the extent a foreign judgment is enforceable in Liechtenstein, because one of the aforementioned treaties applies and the conditions set forth therein are fulfilled, the procedure to enforce the foreign judg - ment is similar to the procedure to enforce a domestic judgment. In particular, a creditor can apply directly for an enforcement order based on a foreign judgment without first having to apply for the foreign judgment to be formally recognised. The main difference between enforcement on the basis of a domestic judgment and enforcement on the basis of a foreign judgment is that, in the latter case, the Enforcement Act provides for a special opposition procedure ( Widerspruchsverfahren ) in which the debt - or can raise objections specifically (and only) available against the enforcement of foreign judgments, with the following examples: • that the debtor did not have an opportunity to par - ticipate in the foreign proceedings; • that the action that shall be enforced based on the foreign judgment is unlawful as a matter of Liech - tenstein law; • that the foreign judgment violates Liechtenstein public policy ( ordre public ); or • that the conditions set forth in the relevant treaty are not fulfilled. The opposition is to be raised with the Liechtenstein District Court (ie, the court of first instance) and is to
be dealt with in an oral hearing. The opposition can be raised in parallel to an appeal against the enforcement order with the Liechtenstein Court of Appeal. 3.5 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Foreign Judgments In principle, the procedure to enforce a foreign judg - ment is the same as the procedure to enforce a domestic judgment. Therefore, court fees are also the same, generally ranging between CHF10 and CHF3,400, depending on the amount of the claim to be enforced. The court fees for the compulsory administration or sale by auction of immovable assets range from CHF20 to CHF6,800. However, in practice, the enforcement of a foreign judgment often turns out to be more time-consuming and therefore more expensive (in terms of attorneys’ fees) than the enforcement of a domestic judgment because additional challenges specifically available against the enforcement of foreign judgments may be raised by the debtor. 3.6 Challenging Enforcement of Foreign Judgments The treaties concluded with the Republic of Austria and the Swiss Confederation set forth certain condi - tions that must be fulfilled in order for a judgment of the other jurisdiction’s courts to be recognised and enforceable. In particular, under both treaties, recogni - tion and enforcement is only permissible if: • the recognition and enforcement do not violate the public policy of the jurisdiction in which they are sought; • the court that rendered the judgment for which rec - ognition and enforcement are sought had jurisdic - tion according to the rules set forth in the treaties; • the judgment for which recognition and enforce - ment are sought is final and binding; and • in the case of a default judgment, the document instituting the proceedings that led to the default judgment was served on the defendant in a timely manner. An objection to the enforcement of a foreign judg - ment in Liechtenstein on the grounds that one of the aforementioned conditions is not fulfilled should be
275 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook