Population: 35,000 (7,000 under 18)
Government Armed Forces: no armed forces
Compulsary Recruitment Age: not applicable
Voluntary Recruitment Age: not applicable
Voting Age: 18
Optional Protocol: ratified 4 February 2005
Other Treaties: GC AP I, GC AP II, CRC, ICC

There were no standing armed forces. Conscription was provided for in times of war or emergency, but there was no information on the minimum age or recruitment in such instances.

Government:

National recruitment legislation and practice

Liechtenstein had no armed forces, although the 1921 Constitution (amended in 2003) provided the basis for conscription to be introduced in a time of war or other emergency.1 The defence of the principality was the responsibility of neighbouring Switzerland.2 Liechtenstein ratified the Optional Protocol on 4 February 2005, and included in its declaration the statement that "the Principality of Liechtenstein has no national armed forces and hence no legislation on a minimum age for the recruitment of persons into the armed forces and for taking part in hostilities exists".3

Developments:

In November 2006 Liechtenstein welcomed the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1612, which created the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) as a basis for the activities of the Security Council Working Group for Children and Armed Conflict. But it also underlined "a need for clarifying the intended use of information gathered through the MRM, in particular by identifying how the MRM can service the information needs of different destinations for action in an efficient and effective way. This includes the gathering of information for key destinations that advance the end of impunity as well as in the area of child protection and victim assistance." In June 2007 Liechtenstein welcomed the first convictions by the Special Court for Sierra Leone for the recruitment and use of child soldiers, calling this "one of the most important developments in international relations over the past two decades".4 In its Initial Report on the Optional Protocol to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the government stated that it contributed inter alia to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) program in relation to children.5

1 Quaker Council for European Affairs, The Right to Conscientious Objection to Military Service in Europe: A Review of the Current Situation, April 2005.

2 UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Country Profiles: Liechtenstein, www.fco.gov.uk.

3 Second periodic report of Liechtenstein to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, UN Doc. CRC/C/136/Add.2, 14 July 2005.

4 Open Debate of the Security Council: Children and Armed Conflict, Statement by Mr Patrick Ritter, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Principality of Liechtenstein to the United Nations, 28 November 2006; Open Debate of the Security Council: Children and Armed Conflict, Statement by Mr Patrick Ritter, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Principality of Liechtenstein to the United Nations, 22 June 2007, both at www.iccnow.org.

5 Initial report of Liechtenstein to the Committee on the Rights of the Child on implementation of the Optional Protocol, UN Doc. CRC/C/OPAC/LIE/1, 11 December 2007.

Disclaimer:

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.