Introduction:
In this case, the Court of Palermo examined an application filed by a U.S.-born applicant seeking recognition of Italian citizenship by descent through his Italian mother. The documentary evidence established the family line and confirmed that the applicant's mother had already been recognized as an Italian citizen through the Municipality of her Italian family origin. Because the judicial proceedings were commenced after the entry into force of Decree-Law No. 36/2025, the Court assessed the claim under the new legal framework introduced by Law No. 74/2025.
Outcome:
The Court granted the application and declared the applicant an Italian citizen 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 the necessary communications to the competent Italian consular authorities. Litigation costs were left to the applicant.
Challenge:
The Court first examined the effects of the citizenship reform introduced by Decree-Law No. 36/2025, converted into Law No. 74/2025, recalling that the new legislation generally excludes citizenship recognition for persons born abroad who also possess another nationality unless one of the statutory exceptions applies. Referring expressly to Ministerial Circular No. 26185 of 28 May 2025, the Court clarified that the exceptions contained in Article 3-bis do not create new grounds for acquiring citizenship but instead preserve the operation of the traditional jure sanguinis rules where specific statutory conditions are satisfied. It also emphasized that the reform introduced a significant change to the burden of proof: applicants must now demonstrate that the relevant parent or grandparent possessed exclusively Italian citizenship at the legally relevant time.
Action:
After examining the documentary evidence, the Court found that the applicant had successfully established the required line of descent and demonstrated that the relevant first-degree ascendant fell within the exception provided by Article 3-bis(1)(c) of Law No. 91/1992. Having verified that the statutory conditions were satisfied and that the citizenship transmission chain remained uninterrupted, the Court concluded that the applicant was entitled to recognition of Italian citizenship jure sanguinis. It therefore granted the application and ordered the competent authorities to complete the required civil-status registrations.
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