ORDER NO. 69
YEAR 2026
ITALIAN REPUBLIC
IN THE NAME OF THE ITALIAN PEOPLE
THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
composed of:
President: Giovanni AMOROSO;
Judges: Francesco VIGANÒ, Luca ANTONINI, Stefano PETITTI, Angelo BUSCEMA, Emanuela NAVARRETTA, Maria Rosaria SAN GIORGIO, Filippo PATRONI GRIFFI, Marco D’ALBERTI, Giovanni PITRUZZELLA, Antonella SCIARRONE ALIBRANDI, Maria Alessandra SANDULLI, Roberto Nicola CASSINELLI, Francesco Saverio MARINI,
has rendered the following
ORDER
in the proceedings concerning the constitutional legitimacy of Article 3-bis of Law no. 91 of February 5, 1992 (New rules on citizenship), introduced by Article 1, paragraph 1, of Decree-Law no. 36 of March 28, 2025 (Urgent provisions regarding citizenship), converted, with amendments, into Law no. 74 of May 23, 2025, brought by the Ordinary Court of Mantua, Civil Section, in the proceedings between M.C. S. and C. D.L., acting in their capacity as holders of parental authority over the minor A.V. D.L., and the Municipality of Canneto sull’Oglio, by way of the referral order of October 24, 2025, registered as no. 4 in the 2026 register of referral orders and published in the Official Gazette of the Republic no. 2, first special series, of the year 2026.
Having examined the appearance of M.C. S. and C. D.L. (in the interest of the minor A.V. D. L.);
having examined the notices of intervention filed by the association Patrimonio Italiano, the Confederation of Italians in the World (Confederazione degli Italiani nel mondo), the association Natitaliani, and the President of the Council of Ministers;
having examined the motion to schedule a chambers hearing to decide upon the admissibility of the interventions, filed by the Confederation of Italians in the World;
having heard the Reporting Judge Giovanni Pitruzzella at the chambers hearing of April 13, 2026;
having deliberated in the chambers hearing of April 13, 2026.
Noting that the Ordinary Court of Mantua, Civil Section, has raised questions of constitutional legitimacy regarding Article 3-bis – limited to the words "even before the date of entry into force of this article” and to the conditions provided for in letters a), a-bis), and b) – of Law no. 91 of February 5, 1992 (New rules on citizenship), introduced by Article 1, paragraph 1, of Decree-Law no. 36 of March 28, 2025 (Urgent provisions regarding citizenship), converted, with amendments, into Law no. 74 of May 23, 2025, for violation of Articles 1, 2, 3, 22, 24, 56, 58, 72 (fourth paragraph), 77, and 117 (first paragraph) of the Constitution;
that, by an act filed on January 28, 2026, the association Patrimonio Italiano intervened in the proceedings;
that the association argues for the admissibility of its intervention by citing its statutory purposes, which allegedly establish the "qualified interest, directly and immediately inherent to the legal relationship at issue in the proceedings,” which justifies the intervention of a third party pursuant to Article 4, paragraph 3, of the Supplementary Rules for Proceedings before the Constitutional Court;
that, by an act filed on February 2, 2026, the Confederation of Italians in the World intervened in the proceedings;
that it reports being a confederation composed of emigrant associations, individual emigrants, and their families, with the purpose of defending the rights of Italians abroad, and asserts its standing to intervene as the holder of a "qualified, direct, current, and concrete interest, immediately affected” by the challenged provision, which purportedly has a "systemic and generalized effect,” impacting the status civitatis of a large group of individuals;
that, by an act filed on February 3, 2026, the association Natitaliani intervened in the proceedings;
that it reports having the purpose of protecting the rights of Italians of descent (italo-discendenti) worldwide, as well as supporting them in ascertaining their right to Italian citizenship, and therefore claims to possess a qualified interest directly and immediately inherent to the legal relationship at issue in the proceedings and to the declaration of constitutional illegitimacy of the challenged provision;
that the Confederation of Italians in the World requested an early scheduling of the chambers hearing on the admissibility of the interventions, pursuant to Article 5, paragraph 1, of the Supplementary Rules;
that the President of the Court, by decree of February 25, 2026, setting the date for the chambers hearing of April 13, 2026, deemed it appropriate to assess during said hearing the admissibility of the interventions by the associations Patrimonio Italiano and Natitaliani (Order no. 204 of 2019).
Considering that the provisions subject to these proceedings were also challenged by the Ordinary Court of Turin, Section specialized in immigration, international protection, and free movement of EU citizens, via order registered as no. 167 in the 2025 register of referral orders;
that this Court ruled on said order in Judgment no. 63 of 2026, declaring, inter alia, the inadmissibility of the interventions filed by the Confederation of Italians in the World, another association of individuals of Italian descent, and an association of professionals operating in the sector of verifying and obtaining Italian citizenship;
that this Court held that said entities possessed only an indirect interest, connected in general terms to their statutory goals of protecting their members, which differs from the interest required by Article 4, paragraph 3, of the Supplementary Rules, which states that in incidental proceedings of constitutional legitimacy, "[p]arties holding a qualified interest, directly and immediately inherent to the legal relationship at issue in the proceedings, may intervene,” whereby the "legal relationship at issue” must be understood as the one forming the subject matter of the a quo proceedings;
that the same judgment reaffirmed the precedent already established in Judgment no. 142 of 2025 and Order no. 85 of 2025, concerning provisions that allowed the unlimited transmission of citizenship by descent;
that, also in the present case, the intervening associations do not possess an interest linked "directly and immediately” to the a quo proceedings, which were brought by the parents of a Brazilian minor, born and residing in Brazil, via an appeal filed – pursuant to Article 95 of the Decree of the President of the Republic no. 396 of November 3, 2000 (Regulation for the revision and simplification of the civil registry system, in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 12, of Law no. 127 of May 15, 1997) – against the refusal by the civil registrar of the Municipality of Canneto sull’Oglio to register the birth certificate of said minor;
that, ultimately, the interventions filed by the association Patrimonio Italiano, the Confederation of Italians in the World, and the association Natitaliani must be declared inadmissible.
Having regard to Articles 4 and 5 of the Supplementary Rules for Proceedings before the Constitutional Court.
FOR THESE REASONS
THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
declares the interventions filed by the association Patrimonio Italiano, the Confederation of Italians in the World, and the association Natitaliani inadmissible.
Decided in Rome, at the seat of the Constitutional Court, Palazzo della Consulta, on April 13, 2026.
Signed:
Giovanni AMOROSO, President
Giovanni PITRUZZELLA, Reporting Judge
Roberto MILANA, Director of the Registry
Filed in the Registry on May 5, 2026
The anonymized version corresponds in text to the original