The letters w and x do not exist in the Lithuanian alphabet.
In the hearings of the case, the court emphasized that the existing legal regulation and the doctrine of the Constitutional Court did not allow spelling of first and last names of Lithuanian citizens in non-Lithuanian characters only. On the other hand, the Supreme Administrative Court said it would not violate the Constitution to include the non-Lithuanian spelling of the names among other entries upon the person’s request.
The plea to the court over the spelling of his underage daughter’s first and last names was filed by Mickevičius’ descendant Roman Gorecki-Mickiewicz. His daughter had been born in Lithuania and received a birth certificate and later – passports of Lithuania and France, as the girl has dual citizenship. All of the documents featured the original spelling of her first and last names, i.e., with x and w, however, Lithuanian migration authorities had refused to continue the spelling in a new copy of the passport.
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