Constitutional Court Ruling No. 63/2026: Citizenship and the Limits of Jus Sanguinis

Sentence no. 63 of 2026 was filed today, with which the Constitutional Court ruled on one of the most sensitive issues in Italian public law: citizenship, acquired by descent ( ius sanguinis ).

The decision is part of the recent reform of 2025 (Legislative Decree 36/2025, converted into Law 74/2025), which introduced significant limits on the automatic transmission of Italian citizenship to descendants of emigrants.

1. The regulatory context: from "unlimited" citizenship to the 2025 reform

Traditionally, the Italian legal system has recognized citizenship by descent without generational limits, provided that there has been no interruption in the line of transmission.

The 2025 reform, however, changed this structure, introducing more restrictive conditions, including:

• limits on the automatic transfer of citizenship;

• relevance of possession of another citizenship;

• possible retroactive effects of the new legislation.

These innovations have raised numerous doubts of constitutional legitimacy, resulting in several incidental questions raised by ordinary judges.

2. The question of constitutionality

It is known that sentence no. 63/2026 originates from an incidental judgment brought by the Court of Turin, called upon to evaluate the legitimacy of the new rules that limit the recognition of citizenship iure sanguinis .

In particular, the doubts concerned:

• the possible violation of the principle of equality (art. 3 of the Constitution);

• the violation of already accrued subjective rights;

• the possible illegitimacy of the retroactive effects of the law.

  
  

The Constitutional Court rejected the questions of constitutional legitimacy, deeming the provisions compatible with the Constitution and reaffirming some fundamental principles:

a) Broad discretion of the legislator

The determination of the criteria for acquiring citizenship falls within the discretion of Parliament, provided that fundamental principles are not violated.

b) Absence of an absolute and unlimited right to citizenship by descent

Citizenship by right of blood is not considered a constitutionally guaranteed right indefinitely over time or generations.

c) Legitimacy of the limits introduced

The restrictions introduced by the 2025 reform were deemed not unreasonable, as they aim to:

• maintain an effective link with the national community;

• to avoid an indefinite extension of the status civitatis.

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These are, in short, the crucial points of the ruling which, prima facie , appears to have a purely "political" slant.

In any case, ruling no. 63/2026 does not definitively close the debate .

In fact, the issues raised by the Courts of Mantua and Campobasso in three separate orders will be examined on June 9, 2026.

Part of the doctrine continues to maintain that:

• citizenship by descent has the nature of an original right;

• the limits introduced could excessively compress subjective rights.

The same jurisprudence has sometimes emphasized that the Court's decisions are limited to the issues specifically raised, leaving open further possible constitutional doubts beyond those already raised.

Disclaimer: This post will be updated following a thorough analysis of the ruling.