Christos Konstantinidis v Stadt Altensteig - Standesamt and Landratsamt Calw - Ordnungsamt.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Celex Number: 61991CJ0168
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:1993:115
• Docket Number: C-168/91
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• Procedure Type: Reference for a preliminary ruling
• Date: 30 March 1993

Avis juridique important

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61991J0168

Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 30 March 1993. - Christos Konstantinidis v Stadt Altensteig - Standesamt and Landratsamt Calw - Ordnungsamt. - Reference for a preliminary ruling: Amtsgericht Tübingen - Germany. - Discrimination - International convention - Translation from Greek. - Case C-168/91.

European Court reports 1993 Page I-01191
Swedish special edition Page I-00097
Finnish special edition Page I-00109

Summary
Parties
Grounds
Decision on costs
Operative part

Keywords

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Freedom of movement for persons ° Freedom of establishment ° National rules concerning the method for transcribing a Greek name in the Roman alphabet ° Permissible ° Limits

(EEC Treaty, Art. 52)

Summary

There is nothing in the Treaty to preclude a Member State which uses the Roman alphabet from transcribing a Greek name in Roman characters in its registers of civil status. Where it undertakes such transcription, it is for that State to adopt legislative or administrative measures laying down the detailed rules for such transcription, in accordance with the prescriptions of any international conventions relating to civil status to which it is a party. Such rules are to be regarded as incompatible with Article 52 of the Treaty only in so far as their application causes a Greek national such a degree of inconvenience as in fact to interfere with his freedom to exercise the right of establishment enshrined in that article.

Such interference occurs if a Greek national is obliged by the legislation of the State in which he is established to use, in the pursuit of his occupation, a spelling of his name derived from the transliteration used in the registers of civil status if that spelling is such as to modify its pronunciation, with the risk that potential clients may confuse him with other persons.

Parties

In Case C-168/91,

REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Amtsgericht Tuebingen (Federal Republic of Germany) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court concerning the civil status of

Christos Konstantinidis

on the interpretation of Articles 5, 7, 48, 52, 59 and 60 of the EEC Treaty,

THE COURT (Sixth Chamber),

composed of: C.N. Kakouris, President of the Chamber, G.F. Mancini, F.A. Schockweiler, M. Diez de Velasco and P.J.G. Kapteyn, Judges,

Advocate General: F.G. Jacobs,

Registrar: L. Hewlett, Administrator,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of:

° the German Government, by E. Roeder, Ministerialrat in the Federal Ministry for the Economy, and C.-D. Quassowski, Regierungsdirektor in the same Ministry, acting as Agents,

° the Greek Government, by D. Raptis, State Legal Advisor, acting as Agent,

° the Commission of the European Communities, by D. Gouloussis, Legal Adviser, assisted by R. Hayder, of...