How corrupt is Liechtenstein?

There are studies on this that are not very positive.

The Group of States against Corruption ( GRECO ) of the Council of Europe has examined Liechtenstein in several rounds of evaluations and made recommendations for improving corruption prevention.

That's a polite way of saying: there's a lot to do.

In the fourth round of evaluations, GRECO addressed the prevention of corruption in relation to members of the Parliament , judges and prosecutors .

The recommendations included:

•Increasing the transparency of the legislative process, particularly in the preliminary examination of draft laws by parliamentary committees.

•Introduction of a code of conduct for members of the state parliament on issues such as conflicts of interest, acceptance of gifts and dealing with influence from third parties.

•Introducing public declarations on the financial and economic interests of MPs, including the interests of spouses and dependent family members.

•Promote training and awareness-raising activities regarding the expected conduct of Members of Parliament with regard to integrity and the declaration of interests.

In the area of ​​justice, GRECO recommended, among other things:

•Increasing the role of the judiciary in the selection of judges, including publicising all relevant vacancies.

•Introduction, monitoring and public availability of a code of conduct for judges.

•Consideration of the issue of full professionalization of all judges and limitation of the number of part-time judges.

•Introduction of rules on conflicts of interest for judges who also practice as lawyers.

For prosecutors, GRECO recommended the development of a code of conduct, accompanied by explanatory commentaries and practical examples. Liechtenstein should also offer training on various topics related to ethics and integrity, with the option of confidential counseling for prosecutors.

This is all couched in soft, diplomatic language. Put more clearly, it means:

When it comes to conflicts of interest and public statements about parliamentarians' economic interests, the Dark Ages prevail. What has long been a given in virtually every European democracy must be called into question here.

As always, Liechtenstein responded by claiming that it would begin implementing these recommendations. They date back to 2021. In fact, such a code of conduct was introduced in 2023. However, according to the current state of publicly available information, there are no known cases in which a member of the Parliament of the Principality of Liechtenstein has been officially sanctioned for violating the code of conduct.

To make matters worse, the Prince can dissolve the state parliament and refuse to consent to a law passed there.

So either all parliamentarians are behaving in an exemplary and good manner – or it is a typical Liechtenstein cover-up measure.

And what about judges? Indeed, there is a code of conduct here as well . However, as of now, there are no publicly known documented cases in which judges in Liechtenstein have been officially sanctioned for violating the code of conduct.

So either all the judges of the State Court are behaving in an exemplary and good manner – or it is a typical Liechtenstein cover-up measure.

To make matters worse, all judges are elected by a dubious jury and, for security reasons, must then be confirmed in office by the Prince, which guarantees their complete independence.

Quite apart from the fact that many foreign judges work part-time and also practice law. A specialty of the region. To avoid appearing in court as a lawyer for a party, a judge naturally recuses himself in such cases. His colleagues will then decide the case, regardless of the person.

Whoever believes it also believes in Santa Claus.