Introduction:
In this case, the Court of Campobasso examined an application for recognition of Italian citizenship by descent filed by a foreign applicant claiming lineage from an Italian-born ancestor who emigrated to Canada. The applicant reconstructed the entire genealogical line through official civil-status documentation and demonstrated that the relevant ascendant fell within the category protected by the provisions introduced by Decree-Law No. 36/2025.
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, while fully offsetting legal costs between the parties.
Challenge:
The case was examined under the rules introduced by Decree-Law No. 36/2025, which limit recognition of citizenship for persons born abroad unless specific statutory conditions are satisfied. The applicant therefore had to demonstrate descent from a first- or second-degree ascendant who possessed exclusively Italian citizenship. A key issue concerned proof that the Italian ancestor had never become a foreign citizen. Rather than relying on a specific negative naturalization certificate, the Court considered the documentary evidence as a whole, including the Italian birth record, which contained no annotation indicating any loss of Italian citizenship. The Court also acknowledged the excessive delays affecting administrative citizenship procedures, noting that the competent consular authority had indicated waiting times extending several years into the future, making judicial protection fully justified.
Action:
After reviewing the evidence, the Court concluded that the applicant had successfully demonstrated the acquisition event and the uninterrupted line of descent from the Italian ancestor. It emphasized the principle established by the Supreme Court that a claimant seeking recognition of citizenship must prove only the citizenship transmission chain, while the burden of proving any interruption rests on the opposing party.
Since no evidence was produced showing that the ancestor had lost Italian citizenship or acquired a foreign nationality, and since the available records supported the continuity of citizenship status, the Court found that the legal requirements for recognition had been fully satisfied. Citizenship was therefore recognized jure sanguinis from birth.
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