Introduction:
In this case, the Court of Naples examined an application filed by several U.S. descendants seeking recognition of Italian citizenship through an Italian-born ancestor. The applicants reconstructed the entire genealogical line through official civil-status documentation, demonstrating uninterrupted descent and establishing that the Italian ancestor had never renounced Italian citizenship. Since the proceedings were commenced on 25 March 2025, before the entry into force of the 2025 citizenship reform, the Court assessed the claim under the legal framework previously governing jure sanguinis recognition.
Outcome:
The Court granted the application and declared all 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 the necessary communications to the competent Italian consular authorities. No order as to legal costs was made.
Challenge:
The Court first confirmed its territorial jurisdiction based on the municipality of birth of the Italian ancestor, in accordance with the jurisdictional rules introduced by Law No. 206/2021. It then examined whether the applicants had established an uninterrupted line of descent from the Italian ancestor. A central issue concerned the effect of the applicants' acquisition of U.S. citizenship by jus soli. Recalling Article 7 of Law No. 555/1912, the Court reaffirmed that a child born in a country applying jus soli retains the Italian citizenship acquired at birth through the Italian parent and is not deprived of that status solely because of the automatic acquisition of a foreign nationality. The Court also reviewed the Constitutional Court's decisions and the landmark 2009 judgment of the Joint Sections of the Supreme Court, confirming that descendants claiming citizenship through an Italian woman remain entitled to recognition even where the relevant transmission occurred before 1 January 1948.
Action:
After examining the documentary evidence, the Court found that the Italian ancestor had never acquired U.S. citizenship through naturalization, thereby preserving the continuity of Italian citizenship transmission throughout the family line. It further concluded that neither the applicants nor their ascendants had ever renounced Italian citizenship or otherwise interrupted the chain of transmission.
Applying the settled principles governing jure sanguinis, the Court recognized all the applicants as Italian citizens from birth and ordered the competent authorities to complete the necessary civil-status registrations.
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