Collection Of Liechtenstein Laws Criminal Law

Penal Code (StGB) of June 24, 1987

I hereby approve the following resolution passed by the State Parliament:

General section

1. Section

General provisions

§ 1

No punishment without law

1. A penalty or preventive measure may only be imposed for an act that is expressly punishable by law and was already punishable at the time it was committed.
2. A penalty more severe than that threatened at the time of the offense may not be imposed. A preventive measure may only be ordered if, at the time of the offense, this preventive measure or a comparable penalty or preventive measure was provided for. The imposition of a preventive measure that is merely comparable in nature may not subject the offender to treatment that is more unfavorable than that permitted under the law in force at the time of the offense.

§ 2

Offense by omission

If the law threatens punishment for bringing about a result, then anyone who fails to prevent it is also punishable, even though they are required to do so by the legal system due to a specific obligation, and the failure to prevent the result is equivalent to an act that fulfills the legal definition of the offense.

§ 3

Self-defense

1. A person does not act unlawfully if they only use the defense necessary to ward off a present or imminent unlawful attack on their own or another person's life, health, physical integrity, freedom, or property. However, the action is not justified if it is obvious that the person attacked is only threatened with minor harm and the defense is unreasonable, in particular because of the severity of the harm to the attacker necessary for the defense.
2. Anyone who exceeds the justified extent of defense or uses an obviously inappropriate defense (para. 1) is, if this is done solely out of consternation, fear, or terror, only punishable if the excess is based on negligence and the negligent act is punishable by law.

§ 4

No punishment without guilt

Only those who act culpably are punishable.

§ 5

Intent

1. A person acts with intent if they want to bring about a situation that corresponds to a legal offense; it is sufficient for the perpetrator to seriously consider this outcome possible and to accept it.
2. The perpetrator acts intentionally if it is important to them to bring about the circumstance or result for which the law requires intentional action.
3. The perpetrator acts knowingly if they not only consider the circumstance or outcome for which the law requires knowledge to be possible, but also consider its existence or occurrence to be certain.

§ 6

Negligence

1. A person acts negligently if they disregard the duty of care to which they are obliged under the circumstances and which they are capable of fulfilling according to their mental and physical abilities and which can reasonably be expected of them, and therefore fail to recognize that they could bring about a situation that corresponds to a legal offense.
2. A person also acts negligently if they consider it possible that they could bring about such a situation, but do not intend to do so.
3. Gross negligence is defined as acting in an unusually and conspicuously careless manner, such that the occurrence of a situation corresponding to the legal definition of the offense was virtually predictable.

§ 7

Criminal liability for intentional and negligent acts

1. Unless otherwise specified by law, only intentional acts are punishable.
2. A more severe penalty linked to a particular consequence of the act shall only be imposed on the perpetrator if he or she caused this consequence at least through negligence.

§ 8

Erroneous assumption of a justifying circumstance

Anyone who mistakenly assumes a circumstance that would exclude the unlawfulness of the act cannot be punished for intentional commission. They shall be punished for negligent commission if the error is based on negligence and the negligent commission is punishable by law.

§ 9

Error of law

1. Anyone who does not recognize the wrongfulness of the act due to an error of law is not guilty if they cannot be blamed for the error.
2. The error of law is to be blamed if the wrongfulness was easily recognizable to the perpetrator as it was to anyone else, or if the perpetrator did not familiarize himself with the relevant regulations, even though he was obliged to do so by virtue of his profession, occupation, or other circumstances.
3. If the error is attributable, the penalty provided for the intentional act shall apply if the perpetrator acts intentionally, and the penalty provided for the negligent act shall apply if the perpetrator acts negligently.

§ 10

Excusable emergency

1. Anyone who commits a punishable act in order to avert an imminent significant disadvantage to themselves or another person is excused if the damage threatened by the act is not disproportionately more serious than the disadvantage it is intended to avert, and if, in the perpetrator's situation, no other behavior could be expected from a person associated with legally protected values.
2. The perpetrator is not excused if they knowingly exposed themselves to the danger without a reason recognized by law. The perpetrator shall be punished for negligent commission if they assumed the conditions under which their action would be excused in an error based on negligence and the negligent commission is punishable.

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