Succession to the Liechtensteiner throne

[1] The family continued to be governed by various statutes until 1993, when it was decided that some of the provisions were outdated and that they should be amended.

[3] According to the house law, the right to succeed to the throne of Liechtenstein is reserved for male patrilineal descendants of Prince Johann I Joseph born to married parents, excluding issue born of marriage to which the sovereign did not consent.

Should there be no more eligible male patrilineal descendants left, the sovereign has the right to adopt an heir presumptive.

[3] In 2004, a United Nations committee questioned the compatibility of agnatic primogeniture, which prevents women from becoming head of state of Liechtenstein, with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights[5] and later raised concern about it.

[6] In response to the United Nations' demands for gender equality in 2007, Prince Hans-Adam II explained that the succession law is older than the Principality of Liechtenstein itself and that it is a family tradition that does not affect the country's citizens; the Constitution of Liechtenstein stipulates that succession to the throne is a private family matter.