EU – Baltic States, Law and Regulations, Legislation, Lithuania

The complaint Wahl vs. Lithuania was removed from the case list after the complainant, US-based Lina Wahl, failed to provide an answer to the Government of Lithuania's explanations.

Having Lithuanian citizenship, Wahl turned to the ECHR, stating that her right to respect for private and family life, guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights, had been violated as she could not spell her surname as "Wahl" on her Lithuanian passport and marriage certificate.

Under the existing laws in Lithuania, the name and surname of a Lithuanian citizen can be spelled in their documents only by using Lithuanian characters.

Lithuanian lawmakers are currently discussing the Social Democrats-proposed bill on the spelling of first and last names in documents, suggesting that names of Lithuanian citizens should be spelled based on their original source in Latin characters.

However, a group in support of the Lithuanian official language has collected signatures to have parliamentarians discuss their bill which stipulates that the main page of official identification documents should only include the spelling of the first and last names in Lithuanian letters by their pronunciation, while non-Lithuanian entries should be made on additional entries page of passports or the reverse side of personal identification cards.

Polish politicians in Lithuania and their supporters in Warsaw have repeatedly urged Lithuania to allow the spelling of Polish names using the Polish alphabet, for instance, w, which does not exist in the Lithuanian alphabet. Supporters of the amendments say they would be crucial for Lithuanian women married to foreigners. While critics maintain that this would undermine the status of the official language and could lead to difficulties reading of the non-Lithuanian names.