Italy’s Constitutional Court Reopens the Door to Citizenship by Descent

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On July 31, 2025, Italy’s Constitutional Court issued a major ruling (Sentenza no. 142/2025) that may restore citizenship rights to millions of Italian descendants around the world. Though it does not directly mention the controversial 2025 reforms that severely restricted Italian citizenship by descent, the decision lays key groundwork to challenge the new laws.

What the Court Said

The Court’s ruling centers on three core principles:

1. Citizenship by descent exists from birth, not from the moment paperwork is submitted or recognized.
2. There were no generational limits in the law prior to March 28, 2025.
3. Citizenship restrictions must allow individual legal review, not just blanket, arbitrary rules.

This ruling opens the door for individuals who were blocked by recent reforms, such as Law 74/2025, to challenge those restrictions in court.

A Look Back: How Italian Citizenship by Descent Has Always Worked

For more than 160 years, Italian citizenship followed the principle of jure sanguinis, Latin for “by right of blood.” This meant that anyone born to an Italian ancestor could inherit citizenship, even across multiple generations, as long as no one in the family line renounced their citizenship before the next child in line was born.

Thus, Italian citizenship passed down like an inheritance–recognizing the cultural and legal connection between Italian emigrants and their descendants–whether in Argentina, the United States, Australia, or beyond.

This principle remained unchanged through wars, fascism, political changes, and Italy’s entry into the European Union. 

But all that shifted in late 2024 and early 2025.

The Legal Challenges Begin

In November 2024, courts in Bologna, Milan, Florence, and Rome questioned whether unlimited citizenship by descent was still constitutional. Judges raised concerns about a lack of genuine connection between far-removed descendants and Italy.

Some proposed limiting citizenship to two generations, unless the applicant or a direct ancestor had lived in Italy for at least two years. These questions created legal uncertainty and triggered a referral to the Constitutional Court for final review.

At the same time, the Italian government was planning an even more dramatic shift in the law.

The Tajani Decree and Law 74/2025

On March 28, 2025, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani issued Decree-Law 36/2025. It redefined how and to whom citizenship by descent could be passed. In May 2025, this Decree-Law became Law 74/2025, permanently changing Italian citizenship rules and cutting off access for millions of descendants overnight.

Key restrictions include:

• Only children and grandchildren of Italian citizens can qualify.
• If an applicant’s parent was born in Italy, that parent must have lived in Italy for at least two years before the applicant’s birth.
• If an applicant’s grandparent was born in Italy, that grandparent must have never held another citizenship besides Italian, even if said naturalization occurred after the birth of his or her child

What’s more, the law was applied retroactively, stripping millions of the citizenship rights they enjoyed at the moment of their birth. Whether a person was born 10, 30, 40, or even 70 years ago–with the full rights of Italian citizenship at birth–this new law removed their right to citizenship, after the fact. 

Additionally, the new law stated that all those who officially applied for recognition of citizenship up to 11:59 pm on March 27. 2025 was covered under the old rules. However, the Decree provided no grace period or notice period. 

The Court Hearing and the July 31 Ruling

On June 24, 2025, the Constitutional Court finally heard the combined challenges from the four lower courts. The hearing focused on whether unlimited citizenship by descent conflicted with Italy’s constitutional values.

The Court ruled on July 31, 2025, in a landmark decision. While it rejected the idea of generational limits, it went further by reaffirming key principles:

• Citizenship by descent is a birthright, acquired automatically under the law in force at the time of birth.
• No generational limit existed prior to the 2025 law.
• Heritage is a valid connection—the Italian diaspora has a legitimate link to the country.
• Future restrictions require clear laws and judicial oversight, not sweeping administrative rules.
• Drastic policy changes cannot be made through discretionary rulings that overstep the role of courts.

Why This Matters for Law 74/2025

The Constitutional Court’s ruling undermines the legitimacy of Law 74/2025 in several key ways:

• It confirms that citizenship acquired at birth cannot be taken away retroactively.
• It supports the right to individual court review, contradicting the blanket restrictions in the new law.
• It rejects the type of policy overreach seen in the Tajani Decree, where complex issues were decided through emergency powers and not through the normal administrative channels. 

The Turin Court Challenge and EU Law

In a parallel development, the Turin Court, led by Judge Fabrizio Alessandria, has launched a challenge against Law 74/2025 on both constitutional and European Union grounds.

The argument states that the new law retroactively strips citizenship from individuals born under the old rules. Going further, Judge Alessandria also points out that EU law imposes strict standards on member states regarding citizenship because it affects EU citizenship rights as well.

Under EU legal principles, any restriction must be proportionate to its goal, citizens must receive adequate notice to adjust to legal changes, decisions must be made individually and not through blanket policies, and legitimate expectations must be protected–especially when individuals have relied on birthright citizenship for life decisions. 

Why These Violations Matter

Legal experts believe that Law 74/2025 may violate multiple articles of the Italian Constitution:

• Equality (Article 3): The law treats individuals differently based on when they filed paperwork. Consider that two siblings, who were both eligible under the old rules, may be treated differently depending on whether or not one sibling was able to obtain a citizenship by descent appointment at a consulate prior to the new rules, while the other could not. 
• Legal certainty: It retroactively removes citizenship from people who held it from birth. And make no mistake, the old law is very clear–if a person descended from a qualifying ancestor, Italian citizenship by descent was conferred to them at birth. 
• Family unity (Articles 29 and 30): It disrupts legal ties between parents and children. The new law does not allow parents to pass on Italian citizenship via the jure sanguinis mechanism. Now, a child can only obtain Italian dual citizenship through a parent born outside Italy through benefit of law, an entirely different process that will not allow said child to pass on Italian citizenship in the future, thereby breaking the chain of citizenship forever. 
• Abuse of emergency powers (Article 77): The law was passed without true urgency. Tajani chose to use a “decreto legge” mechanism which allowed him to bypass normal parliamentary review.  
• Due process (Article 24): People had no chance to respond before losing rights.

Each of these may serve as a separate ground for challenging the law.

Your Strategic Options

If Law 74/2025 has affected your case, here’s what you can do:

File a Citizenship Case Now

Even if you don’t meet the new criteria, filing a case in court preserves your legal position under the old law and allows you to benefit from future court decisions. Essentially, it “locks you in” before any new changes can be made and while momentum is growing in your favor. 

Join Broader Legal Efforts

By joining others in constitutional and EU-based challenges, you help increase legal pressure and create more opportunities for change.

Document Your Reliance

Gather evidence showing how you relied on your Italian citizenship—such as travel, study, work, or family planning—under the old law.

Why We’re Optimistic

Latitude believes that there are strong reasons why 74/2025 will eventually be overturned or reformed:

The Constitutional Court has provided clear legal reasoning to challenge the law. More than any other reason, the Constitutional Court itself has given our attorneys the legal tools to challenge the new law. 

EU protections add another legal layer, especially on retroactive rules. Because Italy is a European Union member state, its laws must comply with the broader scope of EU law. Any violation of EU law means the law will not stand as-is. 

Legal tradition favors citizenship stability over abrupt changes. Time and time again, the Italian judiciary has erred on the side of stability and caution. 

Political and public pressure is growing from across the Italian diaspora. These efforts have not been in vain, promoting dialogue with key stakeholders. 

Defending Italian Identity

This fight is about so much more than paperwork. Italian citizenship is an enduring heritage, not a privilege that expires after two generations. For more than 160 years, Italy has honored the bond between its people and their descendants. Law 74/2025 puts that at risk.

By standing up for your rights, you are helping protect the principle that citizenship is inherited, not granted, and that no law should erase what you were born with.

How Latitude Can Help

At Latitude, we specialize in complex Italian citizenship claims. We work closely with Italian lawyers already challenging Law 74/2025. If you’ve been affected, we can review your eligibility under both old and new rules, prepare your court case, and guide you through the legal process from start to finish. 

Contact us today to start your application or challenge your rejection.