a) Jurisdictional Structure
Jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters is exercised in first instance by the Court of Justice in Vaduz. The second instance is the Court of Appeal, the third and last instance being the Supreme Court.
Cases of Civil Law are dealt with in the first instance by one or a number of individual judges. The Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court comprise of a bench of judges and magistrates (normally 2 judges and 3 magistrates).
In public law matters, there are no direct limitations to legal remedies as there are three instances up to the Supreme Court.
However, in certain legal cases, remedies can be curtailed to two instances under specific conditions.
In criminal matters the Court of Justice is the first instance and convenes either under a single judge, in certain circumstances as a magistrate?s court, or, in the case of criminal actions, as a criminal court.
b) Administrative Jurisdiction
The Administrative Court comprises of 5 judges and 5 acting judges who are appointed by the reigning Prince. The majority of these judges must hold Liechtenstein citizenship and be conversant with the Law. These judges and acting judges are appointed for a period of 5 years.
In as far as the law does not otherwise specify , all decisions and decrees of the administrative bodies i.e. the government and government commissions can be challenged by appeal in the Court of Administration.
c) Constitutional Court
The Constitutional Court is responsible for Public Law, the protection of the constitution and acts as a guarantor for The European Convention of Human Rights. It decides on jurisdictional conflicts between courts and administrative bodies and is a disciplinary court for Members of Parliament.
In addition, within its terms of reference, the Constitutional Court examines laws and state treaties as to their validity within the constitution and the legality of government ordinances.
The Constitutional Court also comprises of 5 judges and underlies the same rules as to its constitution as the Administrative Court.
The Constitutional Court can only be called upon if all legal remedies in the other courts and/or administrative decisions and ordinances have been exhausted and the legal matter requires a final decision. The Constitutional Court is not a court of hearing but examines the legal application and its constitutional correctness on the basis of the findings of the lower courts. The Constitutional Court only has the power to revoke rulings and then to demand from the lower court a new decision which conforms to the constitution.