Raihman v. Latvia
Encyclopedia
Raihman v. Latvia was a case decided by the United Nations Human Rights Committee
in 2010 (UN Document CCPR/C/100/D/1621/2007).
's passport with the name and surname amended to "Leonīds Raihmans", with the ending -s required for most masculine names in Latvian language.
In 2004, he applied to the State Language Centre to have his name and surname spelled as Leonid Raihman. The applications was rejected, as were the appeals before Latvian courts.
In 2007, Raihman has filed a complaint before HRC, being represented by Latvian Human Rights Committee
co-chairman A. Dimitrovs.
Therefore, the Committee did not consider it necessary, to evaluate the case under articles 26 (non-discrimination), 27 (minority rights) and 2 in conjunction with 17, to which Raihman had referred (para. 8.4.).
Two members of the HRC, Krister Thelin and Rafael Rivas Posada, submitted a dissent, seeing no violation of ICCPR in the case.
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Human Rights Committee
The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a United Nations body of 18 experts that meets three times a year for four-week sessions to consider the five-yearly reports submitted by 162 UN member states on their compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,...
in 2010 (UN Document CCPR/C/100/D/1621/2007).
Facts and proceedings
Mr. Raihman, Latvian national and member of Jewish and Russian-speaking minorities, was born in 1959. His name and surname were registered as "Leonid Raihman" by USSR authorities, and used until 1998, when he received a Latvian non-citizenNon-citizens (Latvia)
Non-citizens in Latvian law are individuals who are not citizens of Latvia or any other country but, who, in accordance with the Latvian law "Regarding the status of citizens of the former USSR who possess neither Latvian nor other citizenship", have the right to a non-citizen passport issued by...
's passport with the name and surname amended to "Leonīds Raihmans", with the ending -s required for most masculine names in Latvian language.
In 2004, he applied to the State Language Centre to have his name and surname spelled as Leonid Raihman. The applications was rejected, as were the appeals before Latvian courts.
In 2007, Raihman has filed a complaint before HRC, being represented by Latvian Human Rights Committee
Latvian Human Rights Committee
Latvian Human Rights Committee is a human rights non-governmental organization in Latvia. It is member of international human rights and anti-racism NGOs FIDH, AEDH and ENAR. Co-chairpersons of LHRC since 2004 are Aleksejs Dimitrovs, Genadijs Kotovs and Natalija Jolkina...
co-chairman A. Dimitrovs.
HRC views
The Committee found thatTherefore, the Committee did not consider it necessary, to evaluate the case under articles 26 (non-discrimination), 27 (minority rights) and 2 in conjunction with 17, to which Raihman had referred (para. 8.4.).
Two members of the HRC, Krister Thelin and Rafael Rivas Posada, submitted a dissent, seeing no violation of ICCPR in the case.
Aftermath
Mr. Raihman had applied for the court to review his case due to HRC views. The Supreme Court of Latvia decided that the views are a ground to review the case in the executive, in the specific case — in the State Language CentreLatvian State Language Center
The Latvian State Language Center is the language regulator of the Latvian language. It was created in 1992 and it is based in Riga. Center's functions include fining for violations in the field of use of languages. Since 2009, the Center of Terminology and Translation was included into SLC....
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External links
- HRC views (if unavailable, can also be accessed at LHRC website)