Introduction:
An American citizen, tracing their ancestry through a maternal line traditionally excluded by outdated laws, petitioned the Court of Bari to have their rightful Italian citizenship recognized. Their case centered on historical gender-based discrimination and the importance of uninterrupted descent.
Outcome:
On March 2, 2025, the Court of Bari upheld the petition, declaring the applicant an Italian citizen iure sanguinis. The Ministry of the Interior did not contest the claim and was ordered to register the petitioner in the civil status records. Legal costs were fully compensated due to the case's legal complexity and systemic delays.
Challenge:
The central challenge stemmed from historical laws that denied Italian citizenship to children of Italian women who got married to foreigners before 1948. Despite proof of descent, prior legal frameworks required overcoming the presumption of citizenship loss due to marriage and emigration.
Action:
This decision further dismantles gender-based barriers in Italian nationality law, affirming that descendants of Italian women—like those of Italian men—retain their citizenship rights regardless of pre-1948 marriages. The Court of Bari reaffirmed that citizenship, once acquired by birth, is a fundamental personal status that cannot be extinguished by silence, delay, or institutional oversight.
For the privacy of our clients, all names are fictional, and any identifying details in the judgements have been obscured.