The Liechtenstein government commissioned the Construction and Infrastructure Office to carry out a strategic environmental impact assessment of a new "Vaduz-Triesen" road link under Art. 11 and 12 of the Law on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SPUG). The plaintiffs, environmental organizations, argued that the Construction and Infrastructure Office was subject to the strategic environmental review procedure under the European Economic Area Agreement (EEA), even though Liechtenstein had not ratified the Aarhus Convention. The court found that the plaintiffs had standing because they were de facto affected by the binding effect of

the Strategic Environmental Assessment decision and subsequent SEA procedure to a degree above that of the general public. However, the court found that neither the Aarhus Convention nor the European Directive on the SEA procedure provides for an administrative or judicial review procedure. The court stated that the SEA is an area of administrative law in which there is a degree of discretion in the decision-making between the various public interest in reasonable spatial planning, private interests, and political questions. As a result, the court found that the defendants were not subject to the SEA procedure and furthermore it was not the task of the courts to determine the review framework by appeal.

(Source: Courts for the Principality of Liechtenstein,https://www.gerichtsentscheidungen.li/default.aspx, last accessed 05/06/2018)