The Italian Constitutional Court will rule on June 24th on the validity of Italian citizenship by descent without restrictions. The hearing is scheduled for 9:30 AM in Rome, with the participation of four courts: Bologna, Milan, Rome, and Florence.
The unified trial will address the transmission of Italian citizenship. jure sanguinis (by descent) for people with no territorial, linguistic or cultural ties to Italy. The decision could change or maintain the criteria adopted to date, affecting thousands of ongoing processes.
Among the cases analyzed is that of 12 Brazilians who requested citizenship based on an ancestor born in 1876. Bologna Court was the first to raise constitutional doubts on the scope of this right, given the large number of Italian descendants in the world.
The rapporteur of the case is the judge Emanuela Navarretta, a member of the Court since 2020. It is her responsibility to present a technical opinion on the issue, guide the debates and, up to five days before the hearing (i.e., from June 19), forward questions to the lawyers who must answer them orally at the trial.
This procedural step will help anticipate the central points that should be addressed on the day of the hearing.
Lawyers involved
The official list of the lawyers for the four cases, according to the summons and special powers of attorney registered, is as follows:
- Court of Bologna: Franco Antonazzo, Antonio Cattaneo, Marco Mellone, Diego Corapi and Patrizio D'Andrea;
- Milan Court: Marco Mellone;
- Court of Rome: Marco Mellone;
- Court of Florence: Giovanni Bonato, Giovanni Caridi, Diego Corapi, Patrizio Ivo D'Andrea, Monica Lis Restanio, Maristella Urbini, Marco Mellone and Alberto Lama.
Law under debate
The center of the controversy is the compatibility of citizenship by unrestricted descent with Italian constitutional principles. In an interview with La Repubblica, Judge Pasquale Liccardo pointed out that millions of descendants could benefit from recognition, impacting the definition of “people” according to the Constitution.
Another important factor is the legislative context. On May 20, the Italian Parliament approved a new law that limits the right to citizenship by blood — including retroactively.
The Constitutional Court hearing will therefore be the first test of the constitutionality of this new rule.
Community expectation
Legal practitioners feared that the hearing would be postponed or that separate trials would increase legal uncertainty. The unification of the cases was seen as an indication of the constitutional importance of the matter.
“This is a very important event for the right to Italian citizenship by descent for many descendants. On that day, the Court will establish whether the transmission of Italian citizenship by blood without limits or conditions is constitutional or not,” Cattaneo stated in a note to Italianismo.
