🛡️ Can I defend myself against a burglar?

With conditions

Quick answer

Yes — § 3 StGB permits any defence that is necessary to repel the attack. Protected interests are life, health, bodily integrity, freedom and expressly property — your own or someone else's. The defence becomes unlawful only under a double condition: where it is obvious that only a minor detriment threatens AND the defence is disproportionate. The myth: "Self-defence has to be proportionate — I may only hurt the burglar as much as the loot is worth." Wrong. § 3 demands necessity, not a balancing of values; no relation between the value of the goods and the injury appears anywhere in the statute. But: when the attack ends, the justification ends with it.

📋 The rules

§ 3(1) StGB: a person does not act unlawfully who uses only the defence necessary to repel a present or immediately threatened unlawful attack on life, health, bodily integrity, freedom or property, whether his own or another's. Defending a third party is included.
The test is necessity, not proportionality. What is permitted is the mildest means that reliably ends the attack. The justification falls away only where it is obvious that you face merely a minor detriment AND the defence is disproportionate — both limbs must be satisfied.
The time window is narrow: "present or immediately threatened". Once the attack is over — the burglar is fleeing with the loot — self-defence ends. Pursuing him and inflicting injuries is no longer covered by § 3.
Excessive defence (§ 3(2) StGB): a person who exceeds the justified degree of defence is, where this happens merely out of consternation, fear or fright, punishable only if the excess rests on negligence and the negligent act is itself an offence. Panic overreach therefore exposes you at most to the negligence offence.
Pepper spray is NOT a weapon in Liechtenstein. The Weapons Ordinance lists exhaustively in Art. 1 only sprays containing the irritants CA, CS, CN and CR; the Landespolizei brochure puts pepper spray expressly under "not weapons". Electroshock devices and tasers, by contrast, are weapons and prohibited — acquisition and possession require an exceptional authorisation.

🔓 Exceptions

Trivial attack met with heavy force: knocking down the neighbour's boy for scrumping apples is not justified. But both elements must coincide: an obviously minor detriment and a disproportionate defence. One alone is not enough.
Carrying a weapon is not the same as owning one: to carry a genuine weapon (CS/CN spray, a knife under Art. 3 WaffG, a firearm) in publicly accessible places you need a carry permit (WaffG Art. 38): a credible actual threat plus a passed examination, granted for a maximum of five years. None of this applies to pepper spray, because it is not a weapon.
The burglar who merely breaks in: forcible trespass is itself an offence (§ 109(2) StGB, imprisonment up to one year or a fine up to 720 daily rates) — so the attack is unlawful and the self-defence situation exists. But the moment the attack ends, the justification ends with it.

⚠️ Penalties & fines

Exceed the limits of self-defence and you risk conviction for bodily injury; where the excess arises from consternation, fear or fright, you are liable only for the negligence offence. Weapons law: unauthorised acquisition, possession or carrying of a weapon is a misdemeanour — imprisonment up to one year or a fine of up to 360 daily rates (WaffG Art. 60), and up to five years if done commercially. Merely failing to carry your permit is a contravention: a fine of up to CHF 20,000. Not obvious: a taser in the house is a prohibited weapon — mere possession is an offence, whether or not you ever use it.

📎 Official sources

Last verified: 2026-07-12

❓ Frequently asked

Can I defend myself when only my property is at stake?

Yes, § 3(1) StGB expressly names property as an interest capable of being defended. So you may in principle defend yourself against a burglar even where "only" objects are threatened.

Must my defence be proportionate to the loss?

No, the statute requires necessity rather than a balancing of values. The limit is reached only where it is obvious that a merely minor detriment threatens and the defence is disproportionate — both at once.

Can I chase a burglar who is running away?

Not under the heading of self-defence. Once the attack is over and the offender is fleeing with the loot, the justification under § 3 ends, and any injuries you inflict then are no longer covered.

Is pepper spray legal in Liechtenstein?

Yes. The Weapons Ordinance lists only CA, CS, CN and CR sprays as weapons, exhaustively, and the Landespolizei puts pepper spray expressly under "not weapons". Tasers, by contrast, are prohibited.

What if I panic and go too far?

Under § 3(2) StGB you are then punishable only if the excess rests on negligence and the negligent act is itself an offence. So you face at most the negligence offence, not the intentional one.

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