LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Moritz Blasy, Nicolai Binkert, Simon Ott and Kathrin Binder, Schurti Partners Attorneys at Law Ltd
• an application for restitutio in integrum to the District Court. 3.7 Representative or Collective Actions Liechtenstein civil procedure law is not familiar with the concept of representative or collective actions. As a matter of Liechtenstein procedural law, a right may only be procedurally asserted by the person who is entitled to it as a matter of substantive law. Otherwise, the claim will be dismissed for lack of standing. There is the possibility of multiple parties appearing on one side of a dispute as provided in the Liechtenstein Civil Procedure Code; ie, as claimant or defendant in cases where multiple persons are forming a legal community regard- ing the subject matter of the case (such as co- owners of an asset), or where multiple persons are entitled or liable to the same or similar legal and factual basis (for example, joint and sev- eral liability (a joinder of parties or Streitgenos- senschaft )). However, in such cases, each of the parties litigates separately, and the actions of one party should, in principle, not affect the other parties. The court can also ex officio join multiple sepa- rate lawsuits in which the same claimant faces different defendants or in which different claim- ants face the same defendant, if it is to be expected that this will simplify or expedite mat- ters or reduce the costs of the proceedings. Apart from that, the Liechtenstein Consumer Protection Act permits certain consumer protec- tion organisations to initiate lawsuits on behalf of individual consumers. 3.8 Requirements for Cost Estimate Although there is no strict statutory obligation for lawyers to advise their clients of the potential
costs of a lawsuit at the outset, it is common practice among Liechtenstein lawyers to do so.
4. Pre-trial Proceedings 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions
While there is no formal pre-trial procedure in Liechtenstein, there are several types of applica- tions and motions which are usually dealt with at the outset of the proceedings before hearing the case on the merits. In particular, this applies to formal objections and applications for security of costs and fees. Upon receipt of the statement of claim and before serving it on the defendant and schedul- ing a first hearing, the court ex officio will deter- mine whether certain severe procedural errors have occurred. In the event that the court con- cludes that such an error has occurred, it rejects the claim immediately (a limine) without holding a hearing. Other than that, parties may apply for interim injunctions already prior to filing a substantive claim. Also, the Liechtenstein Civil Procedure Code allows for the taking of evidence in the form of judicial inspections and the interroga- tion of witnesses and experts already prior to the lodging of a lawsuit, in case evidence will not otherwise be available at a later stage. 4.2 Early Judgment Applications Parties may apply for a case to be struck out on procedural grounds (such as a lack of juris- diction, inadmissibility of the resort to civil liti- gation, res judicata or lis pendens) before the case is heard on the merits. These formal objec- tions are usually dealt with at the outset of the proceedings. In the case of a lack of jurisdic- tion, the respective motion must be made at the
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