LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Matthias Niedermüller, Alexander Milionis and Fabian Rischka, Niedermüller Attorneys-at-Law
set out in 1.1 General Characteristics of Fraud Claims are met. Further, the receipt of a bribe can be reported to the public prosecutor’s office under Section 307 et seq of the Criminal Code. 1.3 Claims Against Parties Who Assist or Facilitate Fraudulent Acts As a general rule, Section 1301 of the Civil Code orders that all persons who directly or indirectly assist or facilitate fraudulent acts are jointly liable for the damage caused. In such case, every sin - gle person is liable for the relevant share and degree of culpability (pro rata) if an allocation of contribution is possible. If the ratio of their contribution cannot be assessed, every single damaging person is jointly liable for the entire damage caused (Section 1302 of the Civil Code). As a result, the damaged party can include one or all co-perpetrators of a fraudulent and dam - aging action in a single lawsuit for the whole damage. 1.4 Limitation Periods Liechtenstein civil law provides a general rule pursuant to which a damaged person is required to bring claims against the fraudster as the dam - aging party before court within three years, start - ing from the knowledge of the damage and the damaging party (Section 1489 of the Civil Code). However, if the damage occurred based on a criminal act punishable with more than three years’ imprisonment, the statute of limitation is 30 years from the damaging act. In cases where the damaging party is a person or entity licensed by and under the supervision of the Liechtenstein Financial Market Author - ity ( Finanzmarktaufsicht , or FMA), there is an absolute limitation period of ten years besides
the above-mentioned three-year period (Sec - tion 1489a of the Civil Code). In contrast, claims against unjustified enrichment generally have a long statute of limitations of 30 years from the time during which the enrichment took place. If the conditions to challenge a contract assert - ing fraud or error are met, the public claim must be filed within 30 years (cases under Section 870 of the Civil Code) or three years (Section 871 of the Civil Code). 1.5 Proprietary Claims Against Property As a core principle of Liechtenstein property law (rights in rem) as stipulated in the Property Act, the owner (proprietor) of an asset is entitled to exercise the right to property generally at their own discretion and without any legal restrictions (Section 20 of the Property Act). As a result, the owner is entitled to prevent anyone else from disposing of owned assets. Consequently, the owner can claim the return of an asset from any - one by rei vindicatio, unless the other person is entitled to have the asset in possession. To secure a valid transfer of property rights from a transferor to a transferee, valid grounds for the transfer (titulus) and a mode of transfer and handover (modus) is required. Depending on the type of asset, Liechtenstein civil law pro - vides for different requirements of contractual form (formless, orally, in writing, certified, or by public document) and mode of transfer (transfer from hand to hand or by entry into the books or a public register). Contracts that violate a legal prohibition or the protection of the public are considered invalid by law (Section 879(1) of the Civil Code). Thus, a transfer of property rights did not take place effectively and a fraudster did not become the owner of the asset. As a result, a fraudulent party
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