A judgment no. 142/2025 of the Italian Constitutional Court, published this Thursday (31), not only confirmed the validity of Italian citizenship by descent (jure sanguinis) for processes prior to the Tajani Decree, but also laid solid legal foundations that could directly benefit the trial of the new challenge to Law No. 74/2025, scheduled to take place between the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026.
The Court deemed inadmissible and unfounded the attempts to limit the recognition of citizenship by blood based on criteria such as the absence of territorial ties or risk to democracy. And it was clear in reaffirming the original and permanent nature of the line of descent as the basis of Italian citizenship:
“Lo status civitatis fondato sul vincolo di filiazione ha charactere permanent e è imprescrittibile [e] giustiziabile in ogni tempo in base alla semplice della fattispecie acquisitiva integrata dalla citadina da cittadino italiana.”
“The status of citizen based on the bond of filiation is permanent and imprescriptible, and may be recognized at any time by simple proof of the birth of a child of an Italian citizen.”
This understanding will be crucial in judging the constitutionality of the Law 74 / 2025, which imposes restrictions on the recognition of citizenship based on criteria such as generation and residence in Italy.
The Court recalled that Parliament has legislative autonomy, but warned of the limits of this action:
“Compete al legislatore individuare i presupposti per l'acquisizione dello status di cittadino, ma spetta a questa Corte accertare – al meter della non manifest irragionevolezza e sproporzione – che le norme che regolano l'acquisizione dello status civitatis non si discotino dai principi costituzionali.”
“It is up to the legislator to define the criteria for acquiring the status of citizen, but it is up to this Court to verify — in light of the absence of manifest unreasonableness and disproportionality — that the rules regulating citizenship do not deviate from constitutional principles.”
Court rejected political interference
Another important point of the ruling was the Court's refusal to assume a legislative role, rejecting requests to change the rule through judicial intervention:
“That which is rich in this Court is an extremely complex manipulative intervention that can reach a greater extent of the options, resulting in a greater qualification in the greater depth of discrepancy and which is more incisive in the knowledge of the system.”
“What is required of this Court is an extremely complex manipulative intervention, which would involve largely discretionary choices and with strong repercussions on the system.”
With this, the Court reinforced the legitimacy of citizenship by blood and the constitutional limits for future legislative changes.
The next step: judgment of Law 74/2025
On July 25, the Turin Court accepted a new request for analysis of the constitutionality of Law 74, presented by AGIS (Associazione Giuristi Iure Sanguinis) and by AUCI (Avvocati Uniti per la Cittadinanza Italiana). The action will be examined by the Court in the coming months.
Meanwhile, lawsuits filed before March 27, 2025 remain protected by the previous rules.
Sentence 142/2025 serves as the legal foundation for the new stage: it does not revoke the new law, but makes it clear that future criteria will also need to respect the principles of the Italian Constitution.
