Italian citizenship through an Italian ancestor from 1876: the Court of Bologna sets limits on ius sanguinis

The Court of Bologna has asked the Constitutional Court to assess whether granting Italian citizenship solely on the basis of a distant Italian ancestor, with no cultural, linguistic or traditional connection to Italy, is compatible with the fundamental principles of the Constitution.

Twelve Brazilian citizens applied for Italian citizenship based on the ius sanguinis (right of blood) because they were descendants of a woman born in 1876. However, the court, by order, raised a question of constitutional legitimacy regarding Italian regulations that allow the recognition of citizenship by descent without any time limit.

Constitutional questioning

Judge Dott. Marco Gattuso, known for having recently referred the decree on "Safe Countries" to the European Court of Justice, signed the ordinance in which he pointed out that "citizenship is a constitutive element of the people whose sovereignty is recognised by the Constitution" and for this reason he considers illegitimate to grant citizenship to those who have never had real ties to Italy.

The president of the court, Dott. Pasquale Liccardo, explained that the constitutional questioning seeks to determine whether granting citizenship solely on the basis of the existence of a distant ancestor, without cultural, linguistic or territorial ties, is consistent with constitutional principles.

The case

The application comes from 12 Brazilian citizens, who argue that they are entitled to Italian citizenship because one of their ancestors was born in Italy in 1876 and emigrated when young. On the basis of the provisions of the current citizenship law (Law 91/1992), Italy is one of the few countries in the world that recognizes ius sanguinis without setting generational or territorial limits: the Court of Bologna is seeking to have the Constitutional Court examine whether this regulation is reasonable, taking into account the concepts of people and citizenship defined in the Constitution and Italy's international obligations, especially within the framework of the European Union.

Citizenship iure sanguinis vs ius soli

The current legislation (Law 91/1992, which has gone in continuity with the previous Law 555/1912 and the still-previous Civil Code of 1865), which dates back to the 20th century, was designed to preserve the ties with the millions of Italians who emigrated and has remained virtually intact to this day, allowing those who descend from Italian citizens who emigrated abroad, by proving compliance with the conditions set forth in the law and the fact that the line of descent has never been interrupted, to obtain recognition of Italian citizenship.

Recently, there have been increasing calls for it to be updated to reflect the current era, in which there is a growing need to provide a corrective to the principle of ius sanguinis by introducing and adding, with formulations yet to be defined and evaluated, the principle of ius soli in order to ensure that even those who do not have Italian ancestors but were born in Italy can have their Italian citizenship recognized under easier conditions than at present.

In any case, the outcomes of the assessment that will be made by the Constitutional Court with respect to the question of legitimacy raised will have to be evaluated to understand out they may possibly impact the potential millions of applicants who are descendants of Italian citizens who emigrated abroad at the beginning of the XX century.

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