Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania allows bilingual information signs in the EU languages

In a recent case handled by COBALT lawyers, a significant ruling was issued regarding the use of Lithuanian and Polish language information signs in Šalčininkai city.

The State Language Inspectorate (SLI) had ordered the Director of the Šalčininkai City Municipality Administration to remove dual-language signs in Polish, insisting that public signs must be in the national language only. By this order, the SLI failed its obligation to assess the situation individually and did not ensure an objective evaluation of all relevant circumstances.

The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania ruled that the signs in question are relevant to international transport and tourism, and therefore comply with the requirements for foreign-language signs. Similar bilingual signs in Vilnius, where English is used alongside Lithuanian, reflect the societal need for international communication.

In this case, the Director of the Šalčininkai city Municipality Administration was represented by COBALT Partner Professor Dr Rimantas Simaitis, Associate Partner Dr Milda Markevičiūtė, and Associate Martynas Dovydauskis.