Introduction:
In this case, the Court of Naples examined an application filed by foreign descendants seeking recognition of Italian citizenship through an Italian-born female ancestor. The applicants reconstructed the family line through official civil-status documentation and demonstrated that the ancestor never voluntarily acquired foreign citizenship through naturalization. The Ministry of the Interior opposed the application, while the Public Prosecutor issued a favorable opinion. The applicants also documented repeated but unsuccessful attempts to obtain an appointment through the Prenot@mi system at the competent Italian consulates before commencing judicial proceedings.
Outcome:
The Court granted the application and declared the petitioners Italian citizens jure sanguinis. It ordered the Ministry of the Interior, through the competent Civil Status Registrar, to carry out all registrations, transcriptions and annotations required by law, including communications to the competent Italian consular authorities. Legal costs were fully offset between the parties.
Challenge:
The proceedings were governed by Decree-Law No. 36/2025, as converted into Law No. 74/2025, since the application had been filed after the reform entered into force. The Court therefore examined whether the applicants satisfied one of the statutory exceptions introduced by Article 3-bis of Law No. 91/1992. The Court also addressed the historical effect of U.S. legislation under which, before 1922, a married woman automatically acquired her husband's U.S. citizenship. Recalling the Constitutional Court's settled case law, it reaffirmed that the automatic loss of Italian citizenship by women upon marriage resulted from discriminatory provisions later declared unconstitutional and therefore cannot prevent judicial recognition of citizenship today. A further issue concerned proof that the Italian ancestor had never lost Italian citizenship. The Court held that the ancestor's Italian birth certificate, which contained no annotation of citizenship loss, constituted full evidence of the continued possession of Italian citizenship. Should the Ministry contend otherwise, it bears the burden of producing documentary evidence capable of proving an interruptive event.
Action:
After reviewing the documentary evidence, the Court concluded that the applicants satisfied the exception set out in Article 3-bis(1)(c) of Law No. 91/1992, as the relevant first-degree ascendant possessed exclusively Italian citizenship. It further found that no evidence had been produced demonstrating any loss of citizenship before its transmission to the next generation. The Court therefore recognized the applicants as Italian citizens jure sanguinis from birth, confirming that the restrictions introduced by the 2025 reform did not apply where the statutory exception was met and the continuity of citizenship had been duly established.
For the privacy of our clients, all names are fictional, and any identifying details in the judgements have been obscured.