Introduction:
The applicants sought judicial recognition of Italian citizenship as descendants of an Italian citizen born in the early 20th century who emigrated to the United States. The Ministry of the Interior entered an appearance and requested suspension of the proceedings pending a constitutional review, while also seeking strict verification of the documentation and possible grounds for loss of citizenship.
Outcome:
The Court granted the petition in full and declared all applicants Italian citizens, ordering the Ministry of the Interior and the competent Civil Status Registrar to complete all registrations, transcriptions, annotations, and communications to the relevant consular authorities. Litigation costs were fully offset between the parties, given that the decision rests on consolidated jurisprudential principles.
Challenge:
The case involved a pre-Constitution maternal transmission, as an intermediate ancestor had been born to an Italian mother before 1 January 1948. Under the legislation in force at that time, citizenship would have been transmitted exclusively through the paternal line, potentially interrupting the chain. The Court analyzed Constitutional Court Judgments Nos. 87/1975 and 30/1983, as well as Supreme Court Joint Sections Judgment No. 4466/2009, confirming that the discriminatory provisions must be considered ineffective as of the Constitution’s entry into force and that citizenship status remains justiciable at any time. The Ministry’s request for suspension was dismissed in light of Constitutional Court Judgment No. 142/2025.
Action:
The legal team reconstructed the entire genealogical line through certified and apostilled civil records, proving uninterrupted descent and absence of any voluntary renunciation or naturalization. The Court reiterated that loss of citizenship under Article 11 of the Civil Code of 1865 required a voluntary and conscious act, not mere residence abroad. Applying consolidated Joint Sections precedent (2009 and 2022), the Court recognized that citizenship by descent is an absolute, permanent, and imprescriptible personal status, extending to all descendants once the maternal barrier is constitutionally removed. Recognition was therefore ordered.
For the privacy of our clients, all names are fictional, and any identifying details in the judgements have been obscured.