How Upcoming Court Cases in Italy Could Restore Italian Citizenship Eligibility

Author: Dr. Mark Masi

Key Details:

• There is growing controversy over the validity of Law N. 74/2025, with two major court cases now pending, one before the Italian Constitutional Court and one before the Italian Supreme Court United Sections. These cases will determine how this law should be interpreted and whether its key provisions are constitutional.
• The Court of Turin has challenged the law before the Italian Constitutional Court, highlighting its retroactive effect, disparate treatment, and conflict with EU law. It has also proposed that Article 3-bis should apply only to people born after the law came into effect.
• The Italian Supreme Court, United Sections, will rule on the so called “minor issue,” deciding whether a minor automatically lost Italian citizenship when an Italian parent naturalized in another country, resolving conflicting interpretations of Articles 7 and 12 of Law No. 555/1912.
• This pivotal hearing of the Supreme Court United Sections is expected between February and March 2026. The judges may also address whether Law N. 74/2025 can be applied retroactively to people born before the law was issued.
• Together, the Constitutional Court and United Sections rulings could overturn or revise the new restrictions, reopen paths to Italian citizenship by descent for thousands of descendants, and set clearer rules for future applications.
• While outcomes remain uncertain, many applicants who are ineligible under the current laws are filing court cases in Italy and have obtained favorable rulings.

The new Italian citizenship law N. 74/2025 has made it much harder for descendants of Italian citizens to obtain Italian citizenship by introducing both generational limits and exclusions based on naturalization. Under the new law, only children and grandchildren of Italian citizens who were born outside of Italy are eligible for recognition of Italian citizenship, and only if their Italian parent or grandparent never became a citizen of another country. The new rules apply to all descendants of Italians born abroad who did not already have a consulate appointment scheduled before March 28, 2025. Because of these restrictions, and because many immigration and constitutional law experts believe parts of Law N. 74/2025 violate the Italian Constitution, a growing number of people are turning to the Italian courts to challenge the law and claim Italian citizenship by descent.

Recently, it was announced that the Italian Constitutional Court will review key parts of the new Italian citizenship law N. 74/2025 in the spring of 2026. In addition, the Italian Supreme Court United Sections will examine the so called “minor issue,” which has led to inconsistent decisions on Italian citizenship by descent applications since October 2025. The United Sections are also expected to address several controversial aspects of Law N. 74/2025. This article aims to explain these pending cases and what they may mean for people seeking recognition of Italian citizenship by descent.

The Italian Constitutional Court and Law N. 74/2025

Shortly after Law N. 74/2025 took effect, the Court of Turin raised constitutional concerns about the new citizenship rules. The judge questioned whether it is constitutional to retroactively exclude individuals who are already considered dual citizens, arguing that this may violate key constitutional principles such as non discrimination and proportionality. Because of these concerns, the Court of Turin referred the question to the highest court in Italy for constitutional issues, the Italian Constitutional Court. This hearing is expected to take place by March 2026.

Key Constitutional Issues Raised by the Court of Turin

• Retroactive application: Article 3-bis applies to people who were born before the law came into effect on March 27, 2025. In practice, this means the law changes the status of people who were already alive and already had a potential right to Italian citizenship by descent.
• Legal certainty: The court argued that the retroactive application of the law violates the principle of legal certainty. This principle requires that new laws do not affect individuals rights that were already acquired under previous rules.
• Disparate treatment: The court raised concerns that the law creates disparate treatment between individuals in similar legal situations, specifically discriminating against those who held dual citizenship at the time of their birth.
• Conflict with EU law: The court suggested that the law’s blanket denial of citizenship could conflict with EU principles of proportionality and reasonableness, as it may lead to the loss of EU citizenship without an individual assessment of the consequences.

Proposed Solution by The Court of Turin

• To limit these constitutional problems, the Court of Turin has suggested that Article 3-bis should only apply to individuals born after the date the law came into effect.
• This would protect those who were already considered “Italian citizens by birth”, ensuring that they would not automatically lose their citizenship or their ability to have it recognized because of the new law.

If the Constitutional Court accepts this approach, it would protect the rights of many descendants of Italians who were already in the process of applying or who were eligible under the previous citizenship laws.

The Italian Supreme Court and the “Minor Issue”

In addition to the Constitutional Court case, the Italian Supreme Court United Sections, will be examining important questions related to Italian citizenship by descent. The primary topic is the so called “minor issue”. Specifically, the Court will be asked to decide whether the minor child of an Italian parent automatically lost their Italian citizenship when the parent naturalized as a citizen of another country.

To understand this, it helps to look at two key articles from Law No. 555 of 1912:

1 – Article 7, Law No. 555/1912

This article states that a child born to an Italian father who is living abroad and has not yet become a naturalized foreign citizen keeps Italian citizenship, even if the child also receives foreign citizenship at birth by ius soli. The child only loses Italian citizenship if they decide to formally renounce it as an adult. The age of majority was 21 until 1975 and 18 afterward.

2 – Article 12, Law No. 555/1912

This article states that a minor child automatically loses Italian citizenship if the father becomes a citizen of another country, regardless of where the child was born.

The long-standing interpretation by the Italian Ministry of Internal Affairs and several Italian courts was based on Article 7. Meaning if a child is born in a country that grants citizenship at birth by ius soli, that child keeps Italian citizenship even if the father later becomes a citizen of that country, as long as the father’s naturalization happened after the child’s birth and after July 1, 1912.

However, more recent decisions from some courts have applied Article 12 more strictly and have ruled that children automatically lost Italian citizenship when their father naturalized while they were minors. Due to these conflicting interpretations, the Italian Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione) referred the matter to its United Sections (Sezioni Unite) in July 2025 to issue a definitive and binding resolution. This ruling will provide clarity on how “minor issue” cases should be handled moving forward, impacting future citizenship applications.

The initial hearing for this issue was scheduled for January 2026 but was later postponed. According to the Secretariat of the Presidency of the Supreme Court, the judges requested more time to study the documents and fully consider the importance of the questions involved, as they directly affect the legal regime of Italian citizenship jus sanguinis.

The new hearing date is expected to fall between February and March 2026. At that hearing, the United Sections may also address the retroactivity of Law N. 74/2025, specifically whether the law can be applied to people who were born before it was issued. This postponement shows how significant this decision will be.

What These Upcoming Rulings Mean for Your Case

With both the Italian Constitutional Court and the Italian Supreme Court, United Sections, examining different parts of the Italian citizenship law, there is renewed hope among legal experts that the new the new law could be overturned or at least revised. This could once again open the door to citizenship by descent for thousands of Italian descendants.

At this point, however, it is difficult to predict the final outcome with confidence. Given the inconsistencies of the decree with multiple constitutional principles, many applicants are already choosing to file legal actions to challenge these new restrictions rather than wait for the court decisions. Our legal team, along with other law firms in Italy, have already won cases in court for individuals who would not be eligible under the new law as it is currently written.

If you believe you qualify for Italian citizenship but are facing new obstacles because of the restrictions, filing a case in the Italian courts now may be a smart option. Our legal team at Bridging Worlds, LLC focuses on Italian citizenship law and can review your circumstances to determine whether legal action in Italy could be a strategic solution for you. For more information, schedule a call with our team below.