LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Moritz Blasy, Nicolai Binkert, Simon Ott and Kathrin Binder, Schurti Partners Attorneys at Law Ltd
• the challenge must be submitted within four weeks of the date of receipt of the award; and • the Liechtenstein arbitration law only pro- vides one ordinary instance for setting aside the award (that is, the Liechtenstein Court of Appeal). The procedure is public in principle, but the pub- lic can be excluded upon request of a party if the party has a legitimate interest. Moreover, any person involved in the proceedings can ban third parties from being granted access to the files. In summary, the distinctive features of the Liech- tenstein arbitration law ensure that a swift and confidential arbitral proceeding is not thwarted by lengthy and public proceedings before the ordinary courts. As mentioned, the Liechtenstein Court of Appeal renders a final decision against which no further ordinary appeal is admissible. While, in theory, a complaint to the Constitu- tional Court for a violation of constitutional law is possible, the Constitutional Court has held that arbitral awards are only to a very limited extent bound by constitutional norms. In par- ticular, an arbitral award will not be reviewed on the grounds of arbitrariness. Consequently, the chances of success with a constitutional com- plaint are very limited. 13.4 Procedure for Enforcing Domestic and Foreign Arbitration The enforcement of an arbitral award does not require a separate recognition procedure in Liechtenstein, since arbitral awards are deemed to be equal to judgments of the ordinary (Liech- tenstein) courts. Arbitral awards are, therefore, enforced in the same way as judgments of the ordinary courts, that is, by means of an applica- tion for enforcement to the Liechtenstein District Court.
The enforcement of a foreign arbitral award in Liechtenstein is governed by the provisions of the New York Convention. Accordingly, to enforce a foreign arbitral award, the enforc- ing party must enclose with the application for enforcement the certified original or a duly cer- tified copy of the arbitral award and a certified translation of the arbitral award. Furthermore, the District Court must confirm the enforceability of the arbitral award. 14. Outlook 14.1 Proposals for Dispute Resolution Reform The last major reform of the Liechtenstein Civil Procedure Code was completed in 2018. The purpose of the 2018 reform was to simplify and accelerate proceedings. Recently, the government in Liechtenstein was planning to abolish the Supreme Court as high- est instance of ordinary jurisdiction. Instead, a High Court ( Obergerichtshof ) should have been established as second and highest instance of ordinary jurisdiction in Liechtenstein. With its long history of success, the Supreme Court pre- serves the legal unity, legal certainty and legal development of jurisprudence in Liechtenstein and guarantees the rule of law. For this reason, representatives from the judiciary and the legal profession have strongly opposed such a judicial reform. At present, it is unlikely that the three- court system will be changed. 14.2 Growth Areas Over the past year, there has been a notable rise in litigation involving corporates, founda- tions and trusts. Furthermore, there has been an increase in the number of insolvency-related disputes.
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