The newly issued Tajani Decree, which went into effect on March 28. 2025, has received no small amount of news coverage and scrutiny. Recently, the Constitutional Court has been called to review Law 74/2025, which converted the decree into law. Below, we discuss what this means.
How the Tajani Decree changed citizenship cases
On March 28, 2025, the Tajani Decree (Decree-Law 36/2025) was issued, which announced a major changes in citizenship by descent law. It limited eligibility to those with an Italian parent or grandparent, as opposed to the previous law which granted citizenship to any person who could prove an unbroken chain of Italian descent back to any ancestor born after Italy became a nation in 1861. On May 23, 2025, this decree was officially converted into law (Law 74/2025).
According to the new law, one only qualifies for Italian citizenship jure sanguinis under the following conditions:
- A parent or grandparent was an Italian citizen
- A parent or adoptive parent resided in Italy for at least two consecutive years following their acquisition of Italian citizenship and before the applicant’s birth date
- A citizenship application or notification of an appointment following the procedures of the old law was filed before 11:59 PM Rome time on March 27, 2025
The new law also affects citizenship acquisition for minors. Notably, if the child is born abroad to an Italian parent, the declaration for Italian citizenship must be made within one year of birth/adoption, or the minor must reside in Italy for two consecutive years after the declaration is made.
There have already been challenges to the provisions in the law, and most recently, the Court of Turin has officially sent it for review by the Constitutional Court, the highest court in Italy.
What is the Constitutional Court?
The Italian Constitutional Court came about in full in 1955, seven years after Italy’s constitution was enacted, following the Second World War. Its purpose is to ensure that laws do not deviate from the constitution. It is the highest of the legislative courts in Italy. Most crucially, in its early period, it also reviewed the constitutionality of laws passed before 1948, in the Fascist period. From the European perspective, a constitutional court was also important in placing checks on Parliament, to prevent laws being passed that potentially went against the constitution.
The Constitutional Court consists of 15 judges, taken from legal professions as well as the highest levels of the judiciary in the Italian government. Each judge serves for a nine-year, non-renewable term. During their time on the court, the judges cannot independently express opinions or statements on issues the court is dealing with.
Now, this court has been called upon to review Law 74/2025.
How is the new law being challenged?
On September 17, 2025, the Court of Turin officially sent the Tajani Decree to be reviewed by the Constitutional Court. From that date, all parties involved have 20 days to prepare. A public hearing will follow, most likely early next year.
The Tajani Decree has received widespread criticism, from the more stringent rules regarding citizenship for minors, its retroactive application, and purported violation (according to some) of EU laws.
Notably, the court will not be making a decision regarding every part of the Tajani Decree, but only specific issues raised by the Court of Turin. Following the hearing, the court will meet in a closed session and publish their decision in the Official Gazzette.
Regardless of the constitutional review of the Tajani Decree, many individuals who qualified for citizenship under the “old rules” have submitted their cases to the Italian courts after issuance of the Tajani Decree and after the issuance of Law 74/2025, based on several arguments that would make the “old rules” applicable to their cases.
The Constitutional Court’s previous ruling on July 31st
The Constitutional Court’s involvement in the Tajani Decree began with a review of the old rules for citizenship by descent, which had been put forth by several courts last year, before the decree was issued. In particular, the court was asked to review Law 91/1992, which laid out the principles of Italian citizenship jure sanguinis, or through blood descent, and the allowance of multiple citizenships. The concern brought to the Constitutional Court was that the law unfairly affected the population count of Italy. The court deemed that this was not the case and that the laws for citizenship (prior to the Tajani Decree) did not go against the constitution.
It is important to note that the Constitutional Court had been reviewing this decision prior to the Tajani Decree, so the decree itself was not taken into consideration during the July 31st ruling. However, the fact that the court declared that the previous citizenship rules did not violate the constitution does pose hope for the court’s future decision regarding the Tajani Decree. Here at Italian Citizenship Assistance, we will keep our blog updated with the latest news regarding the court’s decision and citizenship laws.
If you are interested in collecting documents for your own citizenship application and would like to reach out to us for a consultation, do not hesitate to contact us.
