The Constitutional Court of Italy has scheduled a hearing for June 24, 2025, at 9:30 am, to discuss the constitutionality of the current legislation on Italian citizenship by jus sanguinis (blood right). The process was initiated after questioning the Court of Bologna on the validity of recognition without a time limit (read here).
The case involves a lawsuit involving 12 Brazilians who are requesting recognition of citizenship based on an Italian ancestor born in 1876. The court is questioning the automatic recognition of the right to distant descendants, without cultural, linguistic or traditional ties to the country.
According to lawyer Antonio Cattaneo, who represents the applicants in Court — along with two other defenders, Franco Antonazzo and Marco Mellone —, the lack of a statement from the government's defense may indicate a lack of political interest in defending the current rule.
“The government should set up a court to defend the law it created, but by not doing so, it suggests waiting for a decision from the Court that forces it to review the legislation,” said Cattaneo.
According to him, the expectation is that, five days before the hearing, the court will send questions to the lawyers. Sending them indicates an interest in delving deeper into the topic. If no questions are raised, the appeal may be considered unfounded “and then we will be at peace” on the matter.
“I am confident because it seems difficult to change a law that has existed for 30 years,” Cattaneo said.
Marco Mellone, a lawyer based in Bologna, described the case as “the mother of all battles” given the importance of the issue.
Debate on time limits
The president of the Bologna Court, Pasquale Liccardo, was the one who raised the question about the compatibility of the current rule with the Italian Constitution. In an interview with the newspaper La Repubblica, Liccardo highlighted that Italy is one of the few countries to maintain the ius sanguinis without temporal restrictions.
“We have millions of descendants of Italians abroad who could apply for citizenship, impacting the definition of people and citizenship as provided for in the Constitution,” he said.
