LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Moritz Blasy, Nicolai Binkert, Simon Ott and Kathrin Binder, Schurti Partners Attorneys at Law Ltd
6.5 Respondent’s Worldwide Assets and Injunctive Relief Liechtenstein statutory law does not explicitly restrict injunctive relief to assets located in the country. Consequently, injunctive measures can be ordered against assets located outside of the jurisdiction. It is then a matter of the laws of the jurisdictions in which the relevant assets are located as to whether a Liechtenstein court order is enforceable there. 6.6 Third Parties and Injunctive Relief As a rule, injunctive measures can only be opposed by the applicant’s counterparty, which needs to be clearly identified in the application. However, injunctive relief can be ordered against third parties as far as it relates to a relationship (contractual or other) between a third party and the applicant’s counterparty. For example, a third party who is a debtor or who holds assets of the applicant’s counterparty can be ordered not to settle the respective debt or not to dis- pose of the respective assets. 6.7 Consequences of a Respondent’s Non-compliance Court orders granting injunctive relief are imme- diately enforceable against their addressees and will be enforced by the Liechtenstein enforce- ment authorities in the case of non-compliance. Non-compliance with an injunction can be pun- ished by the court with a fine or imprisonment upon application by the party who applied for the injunctive relief.
ings by way of oral submissions and the judge is required to personally establish the relevant facts and take the relevant evidence at oral hear- ings. In practice, parties make most of their fac- tual pleadings (and legal arguments) by way of written submissions, and oral hearings primarily serve for the taking of evidence by the court. Importantly, no judgment on the merits can be handed down without there having been at least one oral hearing. The procedure for taking evidence is usually initiated by way of a special hearing in which the court deals with the parties’ submissions concerning the evidence to be taken, sets the procedure for the taking of evidence, and issues an order setting out the evidence to be taken ( Beweisbeschlusstagsatzung ). In more complex cases, the judge also uses this hearing to dis- cuss case management matters with the parties. After that, there will be one or as many more oral hearings as necessary in order to take the evidence and for the parties to plead their case. Although the judge must, in principle, obtain an immediate impression of any presented evi- dence, the Liechtenstein Civil Procedure Code also permits the taking of evidence by means of legal assistance in other jurisdictions (eg, if a witness resides abroad and refuses to appear before court in Liechtenstein). Also, a judge is entitled to rely on evidence taken in previous court proceedings under certain specific cir- cumstances. Once the court considers the facts to be suffi- ciently established, it will terminate the oral hear- ings. In most cases, the judgment then follows in writing.
7. Trials and Hearings 7.1 Trial Proceedings
Liechtenstein civil procedure is governed by the principles of immediacy and orality. This means that the parties should make their plead-
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