By Avv. Michele Vitale - Italyget.com

Law 74/2025, which introduced new regulations on citizenship, has created a context of uncertainty for families with minor children born abroad, whose parents have only recently been recognized as Italian citizens. In this scenario, an ordinance from the Court of Mantua, issued on October 24, 2025, marks a significant step in the legal proceedings.

The Legal Principle at the Center of the Debate

The legal analysis of the case is based on a core principle: a new law should not have the power to retroactively affect a subjective right that has already been perfected, such as citizenship iure sanguinis, which arises at birth. The Court of Mantua's ordinance adopts this interpretive line, reinforcing it with legal arguments that the new regulation may have constitutional flaws, particularly concerning its retroactive application.

To understand the significance of the decision, it is useful to analyze how the Court of Mantua examined the structure of Law 74/2025. The specific case involved the refusal by a Civil Status Officer to register the birth certificate of a minor born in Brazil to a mother whose Italian citizenship had been recognized by a court ruling. The municipality applied a literal interpretation of the new law, which imposes conditions and deadlines for recognition.

The Court, however, approached the problem from a different perspective, raising three main constitutional questions.

1. The "Implicit Revocation" Argument (Violation of Art. 22 of the Constitution)

The central point of the ordinance concerns the interpretation of the law's effects. Where the legislator speaks of "failure to acquire," the Court of Mantua sees an "implicit revocation" of an already acquired status. Article 22 of the Constitution states: "No one may be deprived, for political reasons, of legal capacity, citizenship, or name." The judges interpret the concept of "political reasons" broadly, including the "public interest" reasons cited by the Government to justify the law (such as managing the flow of applications). The ordinance asserts that citizenship, once acquired at birth, is a fundamental right of the person and cannot be withdrawn for reasons of political or administrative expediency. The law, by acting retroactively, would strip an individual of a quality they already possessed, potentially conflicting with a constitutional principle.

2. The "Arbitrary Deadlines" Argument (Violation of Art. 3 of the Constitution)

Secondly, the Court highlights the potential unreasonableness of the law. Article 3 of the Constitution establishes the principle of equality and protects the "legitimate expectation" of citizens in the stability of the legal system. The new law, according to the judges, would create discrimination: two people born before its entry into force, in the same condition, would be treated differently based on an arbitrary deadline (March 27, 2025) for submitting an application. This, according to the Court, would undermine the legitimate expectation of those who, being already citizens by birth, trusted that they could simply request formal recognition of their status at any time.

3. The "Legislative Method" Argument (Violation of Arts. 72 and 77 of the Constitution)

Finally, the ordinance questions the method by which the rule was introduced. The Government used a Decree-Law, an instrument reserved for cases of "extraordinary necessity and urgency." The Court of Mantua argues that a subject as fundamental as citizenship, which defines the composition of the people and directly affects the electorate, should be subject to a parliamentary legislative reserve, following the ordinary parliamentary process. The reasons given by the Government – the overload of consulates and courts – would not, according to the judges, constitute the unforeseeable urgency that could justify resorting to emergency decree.

It is relevant to note that the position of the Court of Mantua is not isolated. A similar case is already pending before the Court of Turin. A jurisprudential trend is therefore emerging that questions the sustainability of the new legislation. The final decision will rest with the Constitutional Court, but the foundations of Law 74/2025

You will find the full text of the ordinance on my blog Breaking: Court of Mantua Raises Constitutional Challenge on the New Citizenship Law for Minors – ItalyGet