NEWS 2023
Major success for attorney-at-law Dr. Harald Bösch as expert witness on Liechtenstein law in a prominent case recently decided by the High Court in London
Dr. Bösch was asked to act as expert witness on Liechtenstein law in an important court case heard at London’s High Court. The case has been named as one of the “top 20 cases of 2023” by the British legal magazine “The Lawyer”.
At the centre of the legal dispute between the Liechtenstein ASTURION FONDATION (foundation) as claimant and the Saudi Arabian Princess ALJAWARAH BINT IBRAHIM ABDULAZIZ ALIBRAHIM as defendant was the question of the validity of the transfer of an exclusive London property known as Kenstead Hall to the defendant by the Foundation.
This property was transferred to the Princess on behalf of the Foundation in October 2011 by Faisal Assaly, long-standing legal adviser to the founder and board member of the Asturion Foundation with sole signature right.
The transfer was effected on the basis of a corresponding instruction of the founder, King Fahd bin Abdulaziz, who ruled in Saudi Arabia from 1982 to 2005. During his lifetime, King Fahd was the sole and primary beneficiary of the Foundation and had stipulated comprehensive founder’s rights for himself when the Foundation was established.
An oral instruction on the part of King Fahd to transfer the property had already been given to the foundation board member Faisal Assaly in 2001. The instruction was also issued by the King in writing the same year but only came to light following the founder’s death in 2005. Further transfers of prestigious properties in other countries, which formed part of the assets of the Foundation, were also made to the Princess on the basis of the respective instructions given by the King and are the subject of separate legal disputes in those countries.
In its submission, the claimant had essentially argued that the transfer of Kenstead Hall was an infringement of the Foundation’s purpose and was effected without a prior formal resolution from the Foundation’s board, therefore rendering it invalid.
In a 70-page judgment dated 21.12.2023, Case No: HC-2015-001414, [2023] EWHC 3305, the High Court fully dismissed the claim on the part of Asturion Foundation to reverse the transfer of legal title in respect of Kenstead Hall.
Dr. Bösch was called as expert witness by the defendant. The expert witnesses on Liechtenstein law called by the two parties to the proceedings put forward diametrically opposed opinions in many respects, both in their reports and in the evidence provided over several days at London’s High Court.
In his conclusions, Judge Adam Johnson agreed with the legal opinions of expert witness Dr. Bösch throughout. He summarised his impressions of the expert evidence regarding Liechtenstein law in paragraph 28 at the beginning of his judgement as follows:
“Both experts were professional and impressive, but as I explain below, where there were material differences between them, I preferred the evidence of Dr Bösch.”
London’s High Court has therefore provided impressive confirmation of attorney-at-law Dr. Bösch’s particular status as expert in his specialist field of Liechtenstein foundation, trust and company law.
The full text of the judgment is available on the internet in English.
Link to judgment
https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/asturion-foundation-v-aljawarah-bint-ibrahim-abdulaziz-alibrahim/
Vaduz, 27.12.2023