Legal and Constitutional Violations of the new Italian Citizenship Law - DL 36/2025

In a sweeping and controversial move, the Italian government introduced Decree-Law No. 36 of March 28, 2025 which radically alters the framework of Italian citizenship by descent, or ius sanguinis. Named after Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, the decree has sparked intense debate among legal scholars, constitutional experts, and Italian communities abroad.

It was announced on the morning of March 28, 2025, and published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale that same evening. It came into force the very next day, March 29. The reform targets the transmission of citizenship by descent, which has historically been a cornerstone of Italian nationality law. Prior to the decree, Italian citizenship could be passed down indefinitely through direct lineage, regardless of the place of birth. The new law reverses this tradition by introducing territorial requirements and retroactively revoking citizenship from individuals born abroad who also hold another nationality. The decree inserts a new Article 3-bis into Law No. 91/1992, stating that anyone born abroad—even before the decree’s enactment—who possesses another citizenship is considered never to have acquired Italian citizenship. This provision overrides multiple existing laws and applies retroactively, effectively stripping citizenship from thousands of individuals who had previously qualified under ius sanguinis. While the decree includes a few exceptions (such as having an Italian-born parent or grandparent, or having filed a citizenship claim before March 27, 2025), the overall effect is a dramatic contraction of the scope of Italian nationality.

The decree is riddled with Legal and Constitutional Violations

- Violation of Irretroactivity: The retroactive application contradicts Article 11 of the Civil Code and Article 25 of the Constitution.

- Denationalization Without Due Process: The decree imposes automatic loss of citizenship without individual assessment or opportunity for defense.

- Discrimination and Inequality: It favours those born in Italy or with financial means to give birth in Italy, violating Article 3 of the Constitution.

- No Transitional Period: The decree was published on March 28 and took effect on March 29, leaving no time for affected individuals to respond. A “guillotine” mechanism was deliberately designed to prevent a flood of citizenship applications, and to catch individuals off guard.

- European Law Conflicts: The decree also breaches European Union law, particularly the principles of proportionality and effectiveness outlined in Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. According to EU jurisprudence, any loss of citizenship must be subject to individual review and must allow for the possibility of retaining or regaining citizenship under reasonable conditions. The Decreto Tajani offers no such safeguards.

Citizenship is a permanent and imprescriptible status acquired at birth through descent.

The Decree also established a very dangerous precedent for the Italian Republic. If the government can retroactively revoke citizenship from individuals born abroad, what’s to stop it from targeting other groups in the future? For example, it could declare that anyone who has lived abroad for more than ten years is no longer considered Italian. Such measures would erode the principle of legal certainty and open the door to arbitrary and politically motivated denationalizations. And also, the decree undermines the unity of citizenship within families. Under the new rules, a parent recognized as an Italian citizen may be unable to transmit that status to their child born abroad—unless the child is born in Italy or meets one of the narrow exceptions. This creates a discriminatory system in which only those with the financial means to give birth in Italy can preserve their family’s citizenship lineage.

Furthermore, international law disfavours such practices. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 15) states that “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality.” The European Court of Human Rights has also ruled that the loss of citizenship can violate the right to private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

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