The Court states: the current legal regulation is not sufficient to guarantee the rights of individuals

On 23 March 2021, the District Court of Vilnius City issued a decision which obliged the Civil Registry Office (CMS) to change the surname of a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania from “Bekuja” to its original form “Beqja” and to issue a new marriage record, as well as to register the birth of the applicants’ minor child under the surname “Beqja”. The decision has already become final. 

The documents in the case file showed that the applicant got married to an Albanian national.  While living in the United Kingdom, a son was born to the applicants in 2020. In 2021, the applicant applied to the CMS to change her surname to “Beqja” as she wanted to have the same surname as her husband. The CMS issued a decision refusing the applicant’s request on the grounds of lack of legal possibilities. In 2021, the applicant applied to the CMS to register the birth of her son in Lithuania, giving the child the original surname with the letter ‘q’, but the CMS rejected her request. According to the applicants, the conclusions of the CMS violated their family rights and legitimate expectations.

In the above-mentioned decision of the District Court of Vilnius City, the court stated that the current legal regulation of the Republic of Lithuania is not sufficient to meet the social needs expressed by individuals and to guarantee their rights. Article 2.20(1) of the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania states that every person has the right to their name. The right to a name includes the right to a surname, given name(s) and pseudonym. On one hand, the legislation currently in force does not allow for the possibility of making entries in civil status records in non-Lithuanian characters; on the other hand, the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (“the Court of Justice”) in deciding cases of this kind is equally relevant in the present case.

The Court of Justice has previously ruled that a person’s name is one of the elements of his or her identity and private life, which is protected by Article 7 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (“the Charter”) and Article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Although Article 7 of the Charter does not explicitly refer to a person’s name and surname, it is no less significant for a person’s private and family life, since it is a means of identifying a person and assigning him or her to a particular family (see, for example, the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 12 May 2011 in the case of Runevič-Vardyn and Wardyn C-391/09). In its case law, the Court of Justice has held that a refusal to change the names and surname of a national of a Member State and to recognise names and surname acquired in another Member State may be regarded as a restriction on the freedoms recognised by Article 21 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union  where it is liable to cause that person serious administrative, professional and personal inconvenience.

The spelling of the applicant’s and her son’s surname differently from that of the applicant undoubtedly caused some inconvenience for the family in terms of establishing the identities of all the members of the family and the authenticity of the documents submitted. The Court found that, in the present case, not departing from the existing legal framework and refusing the application would not be in accordance with the principle of fairness and would be disproportionate to the adverse consequences which the applicants would suffer as a result of the different surnames. 

The European Foundation of Human Rights (EFHR) provides legal assistance to people facing the problem of the original spelling of their names and surnames in personal documents. Legal assistance is provided by EFHR lawyers and attorneys from well-known law firms cooperating with the Foundation. Legal assistance includes advice, drafting of documents and representation in courts. If you are interested, please register by email info@efhr.eu , phone + (370) 691 50 822.