A bitstream, including a coded signal resulting from coding slices of an image, is decoded. Each slice includes plural largest coding units (LCUs). A slice is either a normal slice having a slice header with information useable for another slice or a dependent slice having an associated normal slice which is decoded using information included in a slice header of the associated normal slice. The image includes plural LCU rows, and each LCU row includes two or more LCUs. When decoding a first normal slice in a first LCU row that starts at a position other than a beginning of the first LCU row: (i) the first normal slice and any dependent slices associated with the first normal slice are decoded, and (ii) a second normal slice that starts at the beginning of a second LCU row, immediately following the first LCU row, is decoded.