ROME (AP) — Italy’s Supreme Court has issued a landmark decision ensuring that children born with Italian citizenship retain their status even if their parents later acquire foreign citizenship. This ruling is significant for descendants of Italian emigrants seeking citizenship by descent.
The decision, which addresses a longstanding legal issue known as the “Minor Issue,” impacts numerous cases where families emigrated from Italy around the late 1800s and early 1900s. The ruling was delivered by the Court of Cassation’s highest panel tasked with resolving legal discrepancies and was published on Wednesday.
The crux of the legal debate focused on whether children lost their Italian citizenship if their parents became foreign nationals while they were still minors. Since 2023, a narrow judicial interpretation led to the rejection of many claims, arguing that the lineage of citizenship was disrupted.
Insights from the Court’s Decision
According to the court, under Italy’s traditional citizenship laws, children born as Italian citizens through “iure sanguinis,” or the right of blood, do not lose their citizenship automatically when a parent naturalizes abroad. This clarification implies that children born in countries like the United States, which grant automatic citizenship at birth, maintain their Italian citizenship, which can be passed down to future generations.
Implications of the Reversal
Marco Mellone, the attorney representing the applicants, noted that the ruling reverses previous restrictive interpretations that obstructed many citizenship claims, especially those of U.S. citizens. He stated, “The Supreme Court of Cassation has completely changed its position and gone back, confirming that all these Italian-American families — and, more generally, families in all countries where this situation existed — regain the right to Italian citizenship by descent.”
What This Means for Italian Descendants
The ruling could have widespread effects for descendants of Italian emigrants, particularly in regions with large Italian communities in North and South America. Mellone estimates that the prior restrictive interpretation affected several hundred thousand families.
Legal analysts suggest that this judgment is expected to strengthen the claims of those previously denied due to the Minor Issue and offer clear guidance for judges on pending cases. It may also affect how Italian administrative bodies and consulates process future citizenship applications.
While it’s uncertain if the Interior Ministry and Italian consulates will officially adapt their practices to align with the court’s interpretation, the panel’s decisions, known as the “Sezioni Unite,” are influential as they aim to resolve legal inconsistencies.
Mellone emphasized, “there’s no one above” the panel, which seldom reverses its decisions.
This ruling coincides with Italy experiencing increased interest in citizenship by descent and ongoing legal disputes concerning ancestry-based citizenship rights. In a separate development, a law backed by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani that limits citizenship transmission through distant generations has been sent to the European Union’s Court of Justice, with proceedings anticipated next year.
