LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Matthias Niedermüller, Alexander Milionis and Fabian Rischka, Niedermüller Attorneys-at-Law
place of business. Such activities can only be conducted in criminal proceedings. 2.3 Obtaining Disclosure of Documents and Evidence From Third Parties Liechtenstein civil proceedings follow a two- party system and include rules on permissive and compulsory joinder of additional parties. Therefore, generally, it is the obligation of each party to provide the evidence that is beneficial to its procedural position. Nonetheless, third parties may also be sum - moned to testify as witnesses. In such testimony, witnesses are obliged to answer the questions comprehensively and truthfully, provided they do not have a right to refuse based on secrecy obligations. In cases where such witnesses are resident abroad, they are heard via letter roga - tory proceedings. If an evidence document is in the hands of a third party, such party may be ordered by the court (with or without prior oral hearing) to produce the documents under certain conditions outlined in Section 308 of the Civil Procedure Code. Such order is also enforceable against the third party. In cases where evidence must be preserved, special legal provisions apply (see 2.2 Preserv- ing Evidence ). Independently thereof, docu - ments can be seized in the course of criminal investigations. As opposed to many common law countries, Liechtenstein procedural laws do not impose restrictions on the use of such evidence. 2.4 Procedural Orders The right to be heard is a constitutionally guar - anteed procedural principle. As such, each party must have the opportunity to make a statement of all documents and evidence in the proceed -
ing, irrespective of whether these documents originate from the other party or from authori - ties or third parties. Thus, each party also has the right to partici - pate in the entire proceeding and, in particular, in any taking of evidence. Therefore, the taking of evidence without at least due notification of the defendant is not generally allowed. Proceedings for interim injunctions are typically two-sided in order to adhere to requirements for a fair trial under Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights. However, under specific circumstances (particularly if the effec - tiveness of an injunctive measure requires an ex parte decision), the hearing of the opposite party before the rendering of the decision can be omitted (see 1.7 Prevention of Defendants Dissipating or Secreting Assets ). Thus, in such cases, the need for an effective implementation of an injunction prevails. This is decided on a case-by-case basis. 2.5 Criminal Redress Procedural Rights of Private Parties in Criminal Proceedings Parties damaged by criminal conduct often make use of criminal proceedings to obtain redress for their damage suffered. The Criminal Procedure Code provides for several measures to support damaged parties. According to Section 31a and 32 of the Criminal Procedure Code, victims inspect the files and participate in hearings of witnesses. They also ask questions of the suspects during the final hearing.
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