Introduction:
The applicants sought judicial confirmation of their Italian citizenship as direct descendants of an Italian ancestor recognized as a citizen by descent. Due to prolonged inactivity by the administrative authorities and the Ministry’s failure to appear, the Court evaluated the documentation, the procedural prerequisites, and the governing legal framework to determine their entitlement.
Outcome:
The Court upheld the petition and declared all applicants Italian citizens, ordering the Ministry of the Interior and the competent Civil Status Officer to complete the required registrations, transcriptions, and annotations in the civil registry, including any communications to consular authorities. Legal costs were deemed non-recoverable due to the administrative backlog affecting citizenship applications.
Challenge:
The primary obstacle concerned the extraordinary delay in consular and administrative procedures, with waiting lists extending many years. The Court reaffirmed that prolonged administrative silence, particularly where the administration has a mandatory duty to act, constitutes a breach of the applicants’ subjective right, thus granting them standing to pursue judicial recognition.
Action:
The legal team demonstrated direct descent through certified, translated, and apostilled documentation, including the ancestor’s confirmed registration as an Italian citizen. They also established that no descendant had voluntarily renounced citizenship and that subsequent foreign citizenships were acquired solely by birth abroad. With both substantive requirements, proof of descent and continuity, satisfied, the Court granted recognition and issued the necessary administrative orders.
For the privacy of our clients, all names are fictional, and any identifying details in the judgements have been obscured.