LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Moritz Blasy, Nicolai Binkert, Simon Ott and Kathrin Binder, Schurti Partners Attorneys at Law Ltd
• those of a declaratory nature. In principle, courts are bound by the relief sought and may not order more or something different than what is requested by the applicant. A claimant may apply for a partial judgment ( Teilurteil ) if one or more of several claims brought in a lawsuit are acknowledged by the defendant. Furthermore, the court may issue a partial judgment if, in the case of a claim and a counterclaim, only one of the two claims is ready to be disposed of while a decision on the other claim requires the taking of further evidence. An interlocutory judgment ( Zwischenurteil ) can be issued in cases where a claim has been disputed in terms of both its basis and its extent, and the court concludes that the case permits a decision as to the basis but not yet as to the extent of the claim. If a defendant fails to appear at the first hearing despite having been properly served with the sum - mons, the claimant may apply for a default judgment ( Versäumnisurteil ). The court will render a judgment in favour of the claimant if the presented evidence does not obviously contradict the facts pleaded in the statement of claim and if the pleaded facts support the remedy sought. Significantly, written submissions of the defendant submitted prior to the first hearing must not be taken into account by the court if the defendant does not appear at the hearing. A default judgment can be attacked in two ways: by means of an appeal to the Court of Appeal and by means of an application for restitutio in integrum to the District Court. 2.2 Enforcement of Domestic Judgments The enforcement of judgments in Liechtenstein is gov - erned by the Liechtenstein Enforcement Act ( Exeku- tionsordnung ), which sets forth different rules for the enforcement of monetary judgments (ie, judgments ordering the debtor to pay a certain sum of money) and non-monetary judgments (ie, judgments ordering the debtor to perform, or refrain from, a certain action). Monetary Judgments In the case of monetary judgments, different rules apply depending on the type of asset against which
enforcement is sought. In particular, the Enforce - ment Act distinguishes between enforcement against immovable assets ( unbewegliches Vermögen ) and enforcement against movable assets ( bewegliches Vermögen ), including enforcement against mova - bles ( körperliche Sachen ), against receivables ( Geld- forderungen ), against claims for the delivery of tangi - ble assets ( Ansprüche auf Herausgabe und Leistung körperlicher Sachen ) and against other pecuniary rights ( andere Vermögensrechte ) of the debtor. In the case of immovable assets, enforcement is done at the creditor’s choice by way of compulsory crea - tion of a lien ( zwangsweise Pfandrechtsbegründung ), compulsory administration ( Zwangsverwaltung ) or compulsory sale by auction ( Zwangsversteigerung ). In the case of movables, enforcement takes place by way of seizure ( Pfändung ), appraisal ( Schätzung ) and sale ( Verkauf ). In the case of receivables and other pecuniary rights, enforcement occurs through seizure ( Pfändung ) and transfer ( Überweisung ) of the receivables or other rights to the creditor in order to enable the creditor to request fulfilment of the receivable from the third-party debtor or to otherwise exercise the transferred right on behalf of the judgment debtor. Similarly, in the case of enforcement against claims for the delivery of tangible assets, the claims are seized and transferred to the creditor, and once the assets have been delivered by the third-party debtor, they will be realised according to the rules applicable to enforcement against immov - able assets or movable assets, as applicable. Non-Monetary Judgments Non-monetary judgments (ie, judgments ordering the debtor to perform, or refrain from, specific actions) are enforced by means of delivery ( Herausgabe bestim- mter beweglicher Sachen ), eviction ( Überlassung oder Räumung von unbeweglichen Sachen ), entry into the Land Registry ( Eintragung im Grundbuch ), entry into the custodian’s register regarding bearer shares ( Eintragung in das vom Verwahrer geführte Register betreffend Inhaberaktien ), substitute performance (if the relevant action can be performed by another per - son) or fines and even imprisonment (if the relevant action cannot be enforced by another person or if the
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