New review by the Constitutional Court on citizenship via ius sanguinis: hearing of June 24, 2025

On Tuesday, June 24, a historic hearing was held at the Italian Constitutional Court to discuss issues of unconstitutionality initially raised by a judge from the Bologna Court in November 2024, followed by similar submissions from judges in the Courts of Milan, Rome, and Florence.

The central issue is the constitutional legitimacy of the principle of citizenship transmission based on ius sanguinis, as established in the Civil Code of 1865, Law 555 of 1912, and Law 91 of 1992. The proceedings consolidate four cases referred to the Constitutional Court by the courts of Bologna, Rome, Milan, and Florence.

The judges who submitted the motions to the Court emphasized that the indefinite transmission of citizenship based solely on descent lacks a concrete connection to Italy — whether linguistic, cultural, or historical. This concrete and genuine connection to Italy is the principle that guided the adoption of Decree 36 of 2025 and the subsequent conversion law no. 74 of 2025, which have radically reformed the mechanisms for granting Italian citizenship by descent.

The parties involved, through their legal representatives, contested the position of the referring judges, arguing that arbitrary limits are being imposed. They highlighted the importance of citizenship as a bridge between identity, roots, and rights, describing recognition as a historical and transgenerational duty toward Italian-descendant communities.

Following the public hearing held on June 24, the Constitutional Court must now move into the decision-making phase, and the ruling is expected to be published in the coming months. The Court’s decision will represent a crucial step in determining whether generational limits are compatible with the principles of the Italian Constitution, or whether they instead constitute a violation of established rights and the protection of legitimate expectations.

In any case, the effects of the Constitutional Court’s decision will certainly have significant implications with regard to the new rules introduced by Decree-Law 36/2025 and the subsequent conversion Law 74/2025, which have made generational limits a cornerstone of the new system of principles governing the recognition of Italian citizenship by descent, in force for only a few weeks.

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