Lawyers working on Italian citizenship cases through the courts are keeping a close eye on one date: June 8, 2026. On that day, the Italian Constitutional Court meets in Council chamber to analyze the constitutionality of a rule that prevents the registration of any civil action without the prior payment of a €43 court fee. The decision It does not directly address the €600 fee. It is required in citizenship processes, but it can open the way to questioning it.
The judge will be the rapporteur for the cases. Max LucianiAt least four incidents of constitutionality are on the agenda: Supreme Court of Cassation rulings 259/2025, 260/2025 and 30/2026, and Benevento Justice of the Peace ruling 28/2026. All question article 1, paragraph 812, of Law No. 207/2024, the Italian Budget Law for 2025.
What does the contested rule say?
The provision introduced the new Article 14, paragraph 3.1, of Decree-Law 115/2002, establishing that no civil action can be registered without the prior payment of €43. In practice, anyone who does not make the payment before filing the lawsuit sees their application automatically blocked, regardless of the merits of the case. The rule came into effect on January 1, 2025, and quickly generated controversy in Italian courts.
What do the ordinances say?
Three rulings from the Third Civil Section of the Court of Cassation, presided over by Judge Raffaele Frasca and reported by Francesco Maria Cirillo, were sent to the Constitutional Court with the same conclusion: the rule violates articles 3, 24 and 111 of the Italian Constitution.
Article 3 guarantees the principle of equality. Article 24 ensures everyone's right to access the judiciary. Article 111 deals with the guarantees of due process of law.
The central argument is that the rule has no rational connection to the functioning of the justice system, it does not serve to rationalize the judicial system, but only to raise revenue. In the words of the Cassation Office itself, the provision "seems dictated by the sole objective of 'raising funds', exercising indirect coercion over those who intend to make use of the justice system."
The Benevento case
One of the cases referred to the Constitutional Court demonstrates the concrete impact of the rule. In Benevento, a company filed an objection to an injunction within the legal deadline. However, the court clerk refused to register the objection because proof of payment of the fee had not been attached. When the payment was made, the deadline had already expired, and the objection was considered untimely.
The episode highlighted one of the points most criticized by the ordinances: the risk of transferring prior control over access to justice to the court clerks, a function that, according to the Italian Constitution, belongs to the judge, not the clerk's office.
What does this have to do with Italian citizenship processes?
For descendants of Italians in Brazil seeking recognition of citizenship through the courts, a path that has become the main one available after the restrictions imposed by the Tajani Decree in 2025, the June ruling has an indirect but potentially significant impact.
The 2025 Budget Law created a specific fee of €600 by applicants for legal actions seeking recognition of Italian citizenship. Without prior payment, the process is not even registered. Given the constitutional controversy, some lawyers have begun filing certain actions by paying only the general minimum fee of €43, awaiting the Court's decision. In some of these cases, the actions were even duly registered in court, remaining with... "debt tightening", tax liability relating to the difference in the rate charged.
The lawyer Luigi Minari, An expert in Italian citizenship explains the connection between the two issues. "The issue currently under discussion is not directly linked to the €600 contribution from citizenship applications, but rather to the fact that the tax nature of..." unified contribution "It cannot be used as a mechanism to impede access to justice," he states. Italianism.
According to Minari, depending on the reasoning adopted by the Court, the decision could serve as a basis for future challenges also involving the special €600 fee. "The €600 contribution was created precisely in a context of significant growth in Italian citizenship applications, and it can be argued that its practical purpose was also to discourage the filing of these claims," he assesses.
Why €43 might be unconstitutional
The Court of Cassation acknowledges that the amount seems modest, but argues that the constitutionality of a rule is not assessed solely by its immediate economic impact, but by the principles it violates. Article 24 of the Italian Constitution guarantees the right to a defense as an "inviolable right at all stages and levels of proceedings," and this right cannot be conditioned on the payment of a fee unrelated to the process.
There is also a problem of equality: the rule does not provide for exceptions for those who cannot afford to pay, nor for beneficiaries of free legal aid. And it treats cases of radically different values in the same way; a dispute of €100 and a litigation of €10 million pay the same to be registered.
What could happen on June 8th?
A Council chamber This is not a public hearing; it is an internal deliberation. The Court may declare the rule unconstitutional, reject the issues, adopt a restrictive interpretation, or refer the cases to a future public hearing with a longer period for deliberation.
A potential declaration of unconstitutionality could have significant effects on processes blocked by the application of the rule, including potentially Italian citizenship recognition actions registered with the minimum payment of €43, and open new discussions about the constitutional limits of using economic barriers to access to Italian justice.
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