Diacritics in non-Lithuanian names possible with language watchdog’s approval, Constitutional Court rules

The legal provision allowing the use of Latin-based non-Lithuanian characters without diacritics in personal documents does not contradict the constitution, but diacritical marks would be permissible if the State Commission of the Lithuanian Language (VLKK) concluded that they are compatible with the status of Lithuanian as the state language, the Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday.

The Law on the Spelling of Names and Surnames of Persons in Documents currently allows the use of Latin-based non-Lithuanian characters without diacritical marks in the names and surnames of Lithuanian citizens of non-Lithuanian ethnicity.

According to the court, the parliament could not change this provision without a clear conclusion on the matter from the language watchdog.

“Only after obtaining such a conclusion can the legislator establish appropriate new provisions [...], which fall within the scope of the application of the state language,” the court said.

According to the ruling, the use of non-Lithuanian diacritical marks in official document could be allowed if the VLKK found that this would not endanger “the standard Lithuanian language and the uniqueness of the Lithuanian language” and would be in line with “the tradition of the Lithuanian language”.

The court noted that the watchdog has not formulated a clear position on the issue.

The issue of diacritical marks in non-Lithuanian names and surnames was referred to the Constitutional Court by the Vilnius City District Court in a civil case involving a request to oblige the authorities to alter a civil status record so that the name and surname of a certain Lithuanian citizen of non-Lithuanian ethnicity be spelled using a Latin-based character with a diacritical mark that does not exist in the Lithuanian alphabet.

The current legislation allows the use of “w”, “q” and “x” – characters not used in the Lithuanian language – in Lithuanian citizens’ personal documents. However, local Poles say that they cannot use their names in their original spelling because they contain diacritical marks, such as “ł” or “ż”.