| Abstract [eng] |
This master’s thesis analyzes the evolution of legal regulations governing the right to choose the spelling of personal names in official documents of the Republic of Lithuania, as well as their compatibility with European Union and international law, from the restoration of independence to the present day. The thesis analyzes Lithuanian national legislation related to the spelling of personal names, decisions of courts of general jurisdiction, and the doctrine of the Constitutional Court. The first part of this work analyzes the concept of a personal name and identifies which national and international acts are related to the regulation of personal names and their spelling. The second part of this work is devoted to discussing the development of Lithuanian national legal regulation, focusing on the spelling of women’s surnames, spelling in Latin letters, diacritics, and transcription from non-Latin scripts, as well as discussing current Lithuanian court practice. The final chapter analyzes the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, as well as the conclusions of United Nations committees on issues related to personal names, and compares them with the model chosen by Lithuania. This study concludes that the regulation of personal name spelling in Lithuania has become more liberal, although the development has not been entirely consistent or predictable. The most significant change came with the 2022 law, which for the first time legally regulated this area and authorized the use of non-Lithuanian Latin characters in certain situations. However, although certain aspects of personal name regulation, such as the spelling of women’s surnames, diacritical marks, or transliteration/transcription, may raise certain issues of proportionality, a summary of this work suggests that Lithuanian regulations are generally in line with international standards. |
