On 26 July 2026, Italy's highest civil court — the Sezioni Unite of the Corte di Cassazione — delivered what may be the most important ruling in the history of Italian citizenship-by-descent litigation. With ruling n. 24045/2026, the court definitively resolved the so-called "minor issue", a legal controversy that had blocked or undermined thousands of recognition cases for years. The decision is immediately operative and establishes binding precedent for all pending proceedings.

If your Italian citizenship claim was ever described as complicated by the "minor issue" — if a consulate, a lawyer, or a court raised doubts because your ancestor naturalised abroad while their child was still a minor — this ruling changes everything.

What Was the "Minor Issue"?

To understand why this ruling matters so much, you need to understand what the "minor issue" was — and why it had become a minefield in iure sanguinis cases.

Italian citizenship law under the old 1912 framework (Law 555/1912) contains two articles that, if read together without care, appeared to create a contradiction:

Art. 7 — Law 555/1912

A minor child born abroad to an Italian citizen parent, in a country that confers citizenship at birth by ius soli (birthright on the soil), becomes a dual citizen from birth. The article allows that child to retain Italian citizenship into adulthood by making a declaration upon reaching majority.

Art. 12 — Law 555/1912

A minor child acquires the citizenship of a foreign country — as a derivative effect of the parent's naturalisation, if they are cohabiting — and loses Italian citizenship in the process.

The interpretive problem was this: what happens when a parent who holds Italian citizenship naturalises abroad — say, becomes an American citizen in 1923 — while their child is still a minor? Does Art. 12 strip the child of Italian citizenship too?

Consulates and some courts answered yes — and cut the transmission chain. Under that reading, if the child later had children of their own, those grandchildren could not claim Italian citizenship either. The chain was broken at the minor's generation.

But this interpretation ignored a crucial fact: the child in most of these cases was already born with dual citizenship. They were born in the United States, Brazil, Argentina — countries that grant citizenship at birth regardless of the parents' nationalities. The child was never exclusively Italian. Art. 12 was therefore simply inapplicable to them from the start.

The conflict between these two readings had been escalating since at least 2022. In July 2025, the First Civil Section formally referred the question to the Sezioni Unite — the full bench, Italy's ultimate interpretive authority — via interlocutory orders n. 20122 and 20129. The Sezioni Unite heard oral argument on 14 April 2026, and handed down their decision on 26 July 2026.

The Four Binding Principles

The court's ruling (President D'Ascola, Rapporteur Pazzi) establishes four binding principles of law that govern all pending and future cases:

01

The 2025 Reform Does Not Apply Retroactively

Art. 3-bis of Law 91/1992, introduced by Decree-Law 36/2025 (converted as Law 74/2025 — the so-called "Decreto Tajani"), explicitly does not apply to judicial petitions filed before 27 March 2025. Those cases remain governed entirely by the prior law.

02

Dual Citizens From Birth Retain Italian Citizenship

A minor child born abroad in a ius soli country — holding both Italian citizenship (by blood) and foreign citizenship (by birth on the soil) — does not lose Italian citizenship when a parent naturalises abroad. Art. 7 governs. The chain is unbroken.

03

Art. 12 Applies Only to Exclusively Italian Minors

The loss mechanism of Art. 12 applies only to a minor who held exclusively Italian citizenship and then acquires foreign citizenship derivatively — as a consequence of the parent's naturalisation. If the child had any other citizenship at birth, Art. 12 is inapplicable.

04

Full Gender Equality on Both Sides

The gender equality established by Constitutional Court rulings of 1975 and 1983 — which allowed mothers to transmit citizenship just as fathers do — extends equally to the consequences of loss. A mother's naturalisation is treated identically to a father's.

What This Means in Practice

The practical consequences for descendants of Italian emigrants are enormous. Below are the two most common scenarios where the "minor issue" had previously blocked or complicated claims:

🇺🇸 US-Born Children of Italian Immigrants

Practical Example — United States

Your great-great-grandfather arrived in New York around 1895, an Italian citizen. His son — your great-grandfather — was born in Brooklyn in 1898, becoming both an American citizen at birth (ius soli) and an Italian citizen by blood (iure sanguinis). In 1910, your great-great-grandfather naturalised as an American citizen. Under the old interpretation, that 1910 naturalisation was deemed to have cut off your great-grandfather's Italian citizenship too, despite him already holding it independently from birth. Under ruling 24045/2026, his Italian citizenship was never interrupted. The chain flows to you.

🇧🇷 Descendants of the Grande Naturalização (Brazil)

Practical Example — Brazil

In the late 19th century, Brazil passed the "Grande Naturalização", which automatically — without any request — converted thousands of Italian immigrants into Brazilian citizens. Many descendants were told that because their ancestor was "naturalised" (even involuntarily) while their Italian-born parent was still a minor, the chain broke. The Sezioni Unite confirm that this reasoning is flawed on two counts: the naturalisation was involuntary, and the children born in Brazil already held Brazilian citizenship by birth on Brazilian soil. Art. 12 never applied. The Italian citizenship chain of these families remained intact.

🇦🇷 Argentine and Venezuelan Descendants

Practical Example — Argentina & Venezuela

The same logic applies throughout Latin America. Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, Colombia, and virtually every country in the region grant citizenship at birth by ius soli. Any minor child of an Italian citizen born on those territories held dual citizenship from birth. Their Italian citizenship was never subject to Art. 12 — regardless of when, why, or under what circumstances the Italian parent naturalised.

The Gender Equality Dimension

Principle 4 of the ruling has particular significance for claims tracing through the maternal line — an area already affected by the "1948 rule".

Before the Constitutional Court rulings of 1975 (n. 87) and 1983 (n. 30), Italian law only transmitted citizenship through fathers. Since then, those rulings have been understood to mean that mothers can transmit citizenship too — but some courts and consulates had applied that equality only to the positive side of transmission, while still treating a mother's naturalisation as having different (or lesser) effect on a child's citizenship than a father's naturalisation would have.

Ruling 24045/2026 closes that inconsistency entirely. A mother's naturalisation has precisely the same scope and the same limits as a father's. If the child was born dual, the mother's naturalisation did not strip Italian citizenship — exactly as a father's naturalisation would not have either.

What the Ruling Does Not Resolve

Important Limitation

The Sezioni Unite have resolved the historical interpretive question about Art. 7 and Art. 12 of the 1912 law. They have not decided the fate of cases filed after 27 March 2025 under the new Decreto Tajani framework (Art. 3-bis, Law 91/1992). For those cases, the Italian Constitutional Court, in ordinance n. 147/2026, has referred the question of the new law's compatibility with EU law (Arts. 9 TEU and 20 TFEU) to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). That question remains pending. Anyone filing a judicial petition today will benefit directly from a favourable CJEU ruling if one comes.

In short: the timeline of events that governs your case depends on when the relevant judicial petition was — or will be — filed:

1
Petition filed before 27 March 2025 Governed by pre-reform law. Ruling 24045/2026 applies fully and favourably. The minor issue, as historically raised, is definitively resolved against the applicant's detriment.
2
Petition filed from 27 March 2025 onward The Decreto Tajani restrictions apply — but their validity under EU law is now before the CJEU. A favourable EU ruling would invalidate those restrictions. Filing now preserves your position in the queue.
3
CJEU issues ruling (timeline unknown) If the CJEU rules against Art. 3-bis, all post-March 2025 petitions proceed under the pre-reform framework — and ruling 24045/2026 governs the "minor issue" there too.

Who Benefits Most From This Ruling?

This ruling has the most direct and immediate impact on:

  • Descendants whose cases were rejected or stalled by a consulate or court citing the "minor issue"
  • Descendants with petitions filed before 27 March 2025 that are currently pending in Italian courts
  • Families with an ancestor who naturalised abroad between 1890 and 1950, a period when most Italian immigration to the Americas occurred
  • Descendants of the Grande Naturalização brasiliana
  • Applicants tracing through a female ancestor who naturalised during the minor age of her child

What Should You Do Now?

If you or a family member had a citizenship claim affected by the "minor issue", now is the time to act — specifically:

  • If you have a pending court case: bring this ruling to your Italian lawyer immediately. It is likely to be the decisive point in your favour
  • If your case was rejected by a consulate citing the minor issue: the judicial route (via giudiziaria) before an Italian court, governed by ruling 24045/2026, is now clearly available to you
  • If you have not yet started the process: have your eligibility assessed now, taking into account both the minor issue resolution and the pending CJEU proceedings
Note: This ruling is binding precedent for Italian civil courts. However, each case has its own genealogical and documentary specifics. An eligibility assessment by a qualified Italian lawyer remains essential before proceeding.

Frequently Asked Questions

My great-grandfather was born in Italy, moved to Argentina, and naturalised. His son was born in Buenos Aires before the naturalisation. Does this ruling help me?
Yes, directly. Your great-grandfather's son was born in Argentina — a ius soli country — and therefore held Argentine citizenship from birth in addition to Italian citizenship by blood. When your great-grandfather later naturalised, Art. 12 did not apply to his son, because that son was never exclusively Italian. Under ruling 24045/2026, the Italian citizenship of your great-grandfather's son was never interrupted, and the chain flows to you.
My case was already filed in an Italian court and the judge raised the minor issue as a concern. What do I do?
Bring ruling n. 24045/2026 to your lawyer immediately. Sezioni Unite rulings establish binding precedent — lower courts are required to apply them. Your lawyer should file a submission citing the ruling and its four binding principles, particularly Principle 2 (dual citizens from birth retain Italian citizenship) and Principle 3 (Art. 12 applies only to exclusively Italian minors).
Does this ruling affect the Decreto Tajani restrictions introduced in 2025?
Only indirectly. The ruling confirms that Art. 3-bis (the Decreto Tajani provision) does not apply to petitions filed before 27 March 2025. For petitions filed after that date, the Decreto Tajani restrictions technically apply — but their legality under EU law is being reviewed by the CJEU following the Constitutional Court's referral (ordinance n. 147/2026). A favourable CJEU ruling could invalidate those restrictions entirely.
The Italian consulate told me years ago that my claim was broken at my grandmother's generation because of the minor issue. Is there still hope?
There is — but the answer depends on the specific facts of your line. The consulate's view is not binding in court. Ruling 24045/2026 gives you strong legal grounds to pursue recognition through the judicial route. An Italian court reviewing your case under this ruling would apply the Sezioni Unite's principles directly. We recommend booking a consultation to review your genealogical chain in light of the new ruling.
My family traces through the Grande Naturalização in Brazil. Does this ruling help?
Yes, significantly. The Sezioni Unite explicitly address this scenario. Children born in Brazil acquired Brazilian citizenship at birth by ius soli — they were never exclusively Italian citizens. The Grande Naturalização's conversion of their Italian parent into a Brazilian citizen did not and could not strip them of the Italian citizenship they already independently held. This reasoning applies to all descendants of that generation.