The Office of Justice is Liechtenstein’s central authority for requests for international mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. Responsibility for processing requests for mutual legal assistance lies with the Court of Justice. For more information on the processing and legal basis of requests for international mutual assistance please use the following contact details:

Office of Justice
Äulestrasse 70
Postfach 684
9490 Vaduz
E-Mail

Staff:

Sara Näff 
Tel. +423 236 73 66
Fax +423 236 75 81
E-Mail

Harald Oberdorfer
Tel. +423 236 65 90
Fax +423 236 75 81
E-Mail

Hubert Wachter
Tel. +423 236 74 27
Fax +423 236 75 81
E-Mail

More information on international mutual legal assistance in criminal matters:

• legal basis,
• checklist for external requests to Liechtenstein for mutual assistance,
• statistics.

Legal basis

Laws of the Principality of Liechtenstein on international mutual legal assistance in criminal matters

• Law of 15 September 2000 on International Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Mat-ters (Mutual Legal Assistance Act), National Legal Gazette 2000 Nr. 215
• Law of 20 October 2004 on Cooperation with the International Criminal Court and other International Tribunals, National Legal Gazette 2004 Nr. 268
• For additional laws on international mutual legal assistance in criminal matters visit www.gesetze.li

Multilateral agreements on international mutual legal assistance

• European Convention of 20 April 1959 on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, National Legal Gazette 1970 Nr. 30, (CETS 030)
  §  European Convention of 27 January 1977 on the Suppression of Terrorism, National Legal Gazette 1979 Nr. 39 (CETS 090)
• International Convention of 18 December 1979 against the Taking of Hostages, National Legal Gazette 1995 Nr. 187
• Convention of 14 December 1973 on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents, National Legal Gazette 1995 Nr. 223
• Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, National Legal Gazette 1998 Nr. 23 (CETS 112)
• Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime, National Legal Gazette 2000 Nr. 270 (CETS 141)
• European Convention on the Transfer of Proceedings in Criminal Matters, National Legal Gazette 2003 Nr. 106 (CETS 073)
• Additional Protocol on the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, National Legal Gazette 2003 Nr. 171 (CETS 167)
• United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, National Legal Gazette 2008 Nr. 72
• United Nations Convention against Corruption, National Legal Gazette 2010 Nr. 194
• Convention on Cybercrime,  National Legal Gazette 2016 Nr. 73 (CETS 185)
• Criminal Law Convention on Corruption, National Legal Gazette 2017 Nr. 2 (CETS 173)
• Second Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters,  National Legal Gazette 2020 Nr. 284 (CETS 182)

Bilateral agreements with Germany on international mutual legal assistance

• Exchange of Notes from 15 June/24 September 1920 between the Princely Govern-ment and the Government of the German Reich on the Exchange of Judicial Records (not published)
• Exchange of Notes from 25 September 1931 between the Princely Government and the Government of the German Reich on the Provision of Legal Assistance through the Examination of Witnesses (not published)
• Agreement of 17 February/29 May 1958 between the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Federal Republic of Germany on Direct Dealings in Civil and Criminal Mat-ters between the Judicial Authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Principality of Liechtenstein (not published)

Bilateral agreements with Austria on international mutual legal assistance

• Treaty of 1 April 1955 between the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Republic of Austria on International Mutual Legal Assistance, Authentication, Certificates and Guardianship (Art. 1 – 5), National Legal Gazette 1956 Nr. 10
• Treaty of 4 June 1982 between the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Republic of Austria on the Extension of the European Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters of 20 April 1959 and the Facilitation of its Application, National Le-gal Gazette 1983 Nr. 41

Bilateral agreements with Switzerland on international mutual legal assistance

• Exchange of Notes of 27 October 2003 between the Principality of Liechtenstein and Switzerland on the Monitoring of Cross-Border Telecommunications (phone tapping), National Legal Gazette 2003 Nr. 209

Bilateral agreements with the United States of America on international mutual legal assistance

• Treaty of 8 July 2002 between the Principality of Liechtenstein and the United States of America on International Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, National Legal Gazette 2003 Nr. 149
• Diplomatic Exchange of Notes from 8 July 2002 on the Interpretation and Application of the Treaty of 8 July 2002 between the Principality of Liechtenstein and the United States of America on International Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, National Legal Gazette 2003 Nr. 150
• Diplomatic Exchange of Notes from 14 July / 27 October 2006 between the United States of America and the Principality of Liechtenstein on the Interpretation and Application of the Treaty of 8 July 2002 on International Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, National Legal Gazette 2006 Nr. 210

Multilateral agreements on extradition

• European Convention on Extradition of 13 December 1957, National Legal Gazette 1970 Nr. 29, (CETS 024)
• Additional Protocol of 15 October 1975 on the European Convention on Extradition, National Legal Gazette 2004 Nr. 62 (CETS 086)

Bilateral treaties on extradition

• Exchange of Notes from 3/23 October 1934 between the Princely Government and the Government of the German Reich on Extradition for Fraud and Falsification of Documents (not published)
• Extradition Treaty of 22 May 1936 between the Principality of Liechtenstein and the United States of America, National Legal Gazette 1937 Nr. 11
• Extradition Treaty of 5 August 1936 between the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Kingdom of Belgium, National Legal Gazette 1938 Nr. 3
• Treaty of 4 June 1982 between the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Republic of Austria on the Extension of the European Convention on Extradition of 13 December 1957 and the Facilitation of its Application, National Legal Gazette 1983 Nr. 40
• Agreement of 30 June/29 September 1993 between the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Kingdom of the Netherlands on the Application of the European Convention on Extradition of 13 December 1957 to the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, National Legal Gazette 1995 Nr. 224
• Agreement of 20 June/3 July 1996 between the Principality of Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom on Extending the Application of the European Convention on Extradition of 13 December 1957 to Dependent Territories of the United Kingdom, National Legal Gazette 1997 Nr. 62

Checklist for applications to Liechtenstein for international mutual legal assistance

Applications to Liechtenstein for international mutual legal assistance in criminal matters must meet the following criteria and contain the following information:

1. Legal basis of the application

• European Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance of 20 April 1959 (or another agreement with provisions related to mutual legal assistance, for example CETS 141); or
• Bilateral state treaty; or
• Declaration/agreement of reciprocity => also application of the Liechtenstein Law of 2000 on International Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (Mutual Legal Assistance Act), National Legal Gazette 2000 Nr. 215.

2. Requesting authority

• Name of the authority responsible for investigation or prosecution; and
• Office/authority initiating the application. It is recommended to provide the name of a person with knowledge of the case including phone and fax number and e-mail address)

3. Object of the request

• Investigation or prosecution by a judicial authority; or
• Preliminary investigation by an authority with judicial power to investigate, provided the right of recourse to a criminal judge is part of the trial in a foreign country (NB: additional bilateral agreements remain reserved).

4. Persons against whom the proceedings are directed

• Personal details as precise as possible of the accused / defendant (surname, first name, nationality, date of birth, place of birth, occupation, address, etc.).

5. Circumstances and legal term for the crime

• Short description of the circumstances of the crime (including place, time and type of crime committed). For crimes with elaborate or complex circumstances, a summary of the most important points relating to the crime must be included;
• Legal term for the crime (e.g. murder, theft, fraud, etc.) and communication of the respective legal provisions (offences, etc.).

6. Reason for application

• Explanation of the connection between the proceedings in a foreign country and the measures applied for in Liechtenstein;
• Precise description of the pieces of evidence or actions requested in Liechtenstein (e.g. freezing of bank account X with bank Y, confiscation/release of document XY, examination of witness Z, etc.);
• If questioning of persons is requested, where possible please include a list of questions to be asked;
• With requests for searches, confiscation and release of objects, please include confirmation that the measure requested is legally permissible in the state making the request (only applies to states with which Liechtenstein has no treaty on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters).

7. Request for the presence of foreign actors in the process during enforcement

• Reason for the presence of the person during enforcement; and
• Precise description of the identity and status of this person.

8. Form of request

• Written;
• Official documents do not have to be verified.

9. Language/translation

• Requests must be written in German; or
• Submitted together with a German-language translation.

10. Submission

• Via the Embassy of the Principality of Liechtenstein in Bern to the Office of Justice, provided no other multilateral or bilateral means of transmission (i.e. to the Office of Justice or directly to the relevant authority) has been agreed;
• In urgent cases via Interpol or directly to the Court of Justice (in such cases the request must be confirmed in writing and the original must be subsequently submitted to the Office of Justice via the normal route).