Another victory for the right to the original spelling of surnames – the Court obliged the Civil Registry Office to change the surname by entering the letter “W” on the marriage certificate of a Lithuanian citizen living in the United Kingdom

On 25 March 2021, the District Court of Vilnius City issued a decision that obliged the Civil Registry Office (CMS) to change a Lithuanian citizen’s surname from “Veiss” to its original form “Weiss” and to issue a new marriage record. The decision has already become final. 

In this case, it was established that the applicant married a British citizen in 2018 and currently resides with her spouse in the UK where she works, travels frequently to other countries, and the different surnames of her immediate family cause her inconvenience and additional costs due to the need to prove the identities of all family members. The woman, a Lithuanian citizen and resident in the UK, requested help from the European Foundation of Human Rights (EFHR), which has extensive and long-standing experience in representing clients in cases concerning the right to the original spelling of names and surnames. 

In this decision, the court assessed the legal requirements and concluded that the current legal framework is not sufficient to guarantee the rights of individuals.  The court also took into account the opinion of the State Commission on the Lithuanian Language, according to which certain exceptions are possible regarding the use of the letter “W” in a surname. One of them is that the surnames of female citizens of the Republic of Lithuania who married foreigners and took their surnames may be written in the Latin alphabet.  

The national legislation of the Republic of Lithuania defines and protects the right of natural persons to a name and other aspects of their identity. Article 2.20(1) of the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania states that every natural person has the right to his or her name. The term “name” is interpreted broadly and includes not only first name(s) but also surname and pseudonym. In its decision the court also followed the relevant international case-law. It is clear that the refusal to record a surname with the letter “W” does not comply with the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (“Court of Justice”), the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR”) and the requirements of Article 21 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”).  

The Court of Justice has clarified that a person’s name and surname is one of the constituent elements of his or her identity and private life which are protected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“Convention”). The Court of Justice has also ruled that a refusal to amend the names and surnames of a national of a Member State and to recognise names and surnames acquired in another Member State may be regarded as a restriction of the freedoms recognised by the Article 21 of the TFEU where that refusal is liable to cause serious inconvenience to that person at administrative, professional and personal levels.

The ECtHR has also recognised on numerous occasions in its case-law that issues relating to the spelling of names and surnames fall within the sphere of private and family life protected by Article 8 of the Convention. The ECtHR has explained that in assessing whether state interference with the use of a name and surname is compatible with the requirements of Article 8 of the Convention, it is necessary to take into account, inter alia, whether the surname appears in the passport in its original form, to what extent the original and modified spellings differ, whether the modified spelling interferes with the identification of the person and what practical difficulties this creates (ECtHR judgment of 11 September 2007 in Case 59894/00 Bulgakov v. Ukraine).

The District Court of Vilnius City also recalled the case of Leonid Raihman v. Latvia decided by the UN Human Rights Committee in 2010. The Committee, after examining the applicant Leonîds Raihmans’ application to change his surname to its original form “Leonid Raihman”, decided that the forcible change of his name and surname was unjustified and constituted an arbitrary interference with the applicant’s private life and a violation of article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Committee stated that the forcible change of name and surname constituted an unlawful interference with an individual’s private life and violated human rights.  

From the case law discussed above, it is clear that the use of one’s own name and surname is an integral part of the right to private and family life, and that State interference in this regard by prohibiting the original spelling of a person’s name and surname can only be done if it is a proportionate means of achieving legitimate aims. 

Besides, the data from the Register of Residents shows that among the citizens of the Republic of Lithuania there are those who, in their valid passports issued by the Republic of Lithuania, have registered surnames with the letter “W”. Since there are many people in Lithuania who have surnames and forenames containing the Latin letter “W”, it is obvious that the applicant should also be able to register her married name in its original form, otherwise she would be groundlessly discriminated against without any justification.

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.