LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Moritz Blasy, Nicolai Binkert, Simon Ott and Kathrin Binder, Schurti Partners Attorneys at Law Ltd
tion is a member of other national mediation lobby groups (eg, Österreichischer Bundesver- band Mediation, Schweizerischer Dachverband Mediation). The arbitrator of the conciliation board for conflicts relating to financial services and the members of the conciliation board of the Liech- tenstein Chamber of Professional Trustees are experts in their respective fields of practice. The Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), together with the Liechtenstein Arbitration Association (LIS), published a set of arbitration rules in 2012 (the “Liechtenstein Rules”). A peculiarity of the Liechtenstein Rules is the absence of an actual administration. 13. Arbitration 13.1 Laws Regarding the Conduct of Arbitration If Liechtenstein is the seat of the arbitration, the arbitration proceedings are governed by Liech- tenstein arbitration law. The pertinent provisions are set forth in the Liechtenstein Civil Procedure Code. These provisions are mostly non-manda- tory and the parties may autonomously agree for specific arbitration rules to apply. The Liechten- stein arbitration law is largely based on the Mod- el Law on the International Commercial Arbitra- tion (UNICITRAL Model Law) and the respective provisions of the Austrian Civil Procedure Code. The fact that Liechtenstein adopted many provi- sions from the Austrian arbitration law has the advantage that if there is no specific Liechten- stein case law and legal doctrine, one can refer to Austrian case law and legal doctrine for the construction of the Liechtenstein arbitration law in the absence of such law. In the case of a small
jurisdiction such as Liechtenstein, this is a huge asset. In 2011, Liechtenstein signed and ratified the New York Convention, but has submitted a res- ervation regarding reciprocity. Unlike some other signatories to the convention, Liechtenstein has not submitted a reservation regarding commer- cial trade. 13.2 Subject Matters Not Referred to Arbitration In principle, any claim concerning an economic interest that would fall within the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts may be subject to an arbitra- tion agreement. Thereby, the scope of a claim involving an economic interest has to be inter- preted extensively. With regard to the arbitrability of non-pecuniary claims, an arbitration agreement can be con- cluded and shall have legal effect to the extent that the parties are entitled to conclude a settle- ment on the subject matter in dispute. Howev- er, family law disputes and certain employment law disputes cannot be made subject to arbitral proceedings. Furthermore, the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts cannot be excluded with regard to proceedings which are either initiated by the court ex officio or due to an application or report of a public authority, and disputes which have to be heard before the administrative authorities cannot be referred to arbitration either. 13.3 Circumstances to Challenge an Arbitral Award According to Liechtenstein arbitration law, the grounds for challenging an arbitral award are very similar to the grounds set forth in the UNCITRAL Model Law. Two notable differences between the Liechtenstein arbitration law and the UNCITRAL Model Law are that:
813 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook