Turin Court Recognizes Italian Citizenship iure sanguinis

The Tribunale di Torino recognized the right to Italian citizenship iure sanguinis for a group of descendants of an immigrant who left Italy for Argentina in the early twentieth century. The ruling, sentenza n. 4038/2026, was published on June 30, 2026 and confirms a well-established understanding in Italian courts: nationality transmitted by descent is only interrupted if there is naturalization or express renunciation by the ancestor before the birth of the next generation.

What the Turin Court Decided

According to the ruling text published by Diritto Pratico, the case was filed in 2024 and took approximately 30 months until the final ruling — a timeframe that confirms the average duration that such cases typically take in Italian courts today.

Throughout the proceedings, the Public Prosecutor (Pubblico Ministero) did not oppose the plaintiffs' request. The Ministry of Interior (Ministero dell'Interno), which joined the case as a party — a common practice in such actions — was unable to gather sufficient arguments to prevent recognition. In the end, the Turin court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, declaring that the applicants have, since birth, the status of Italian citizens.

The Family Story Behind the Case

The case involves descendants of an Italian immigrant who married in 1907, still in Italy, and subsequently emigrated to Argentina. The family gathered a set of documents — birth, marriage, and death certificates — capable of reconstructing the entire chain of descent from the Italian ancestor to the applicants, through great-grandfather, grandfather, and parents.

This documentary reconstruction is the backbone of any Italian citizenship recognition action by descent: each link in the chain must be proven by official document, without gaps or inconsistencies that could be used by the opposing party to question the bloodline.

Why the Ancestor's Naturalization Was the Key Point

The central point of the dispute, as in most cases of this nature, was not the genealogy itself, but a legal detail: it would be necessary to prove that the Italian ancestor never naturalized as Argentine nor renounced Italian citizenship before the birth of his children.

This is because Italian courts repeatedly reaffirm that the transmission of citizenship iure sanguinis remains intact as long as there is no naturalization or renunciation prior to the birth of the next descendant in the line. If naturalization had occurred before the birth of the immigrant's son, the transmission chain would have been broken at that point, and subsequent descendants would have no right to citizenship via this route.

In the case decided in Turin, a negative naturalization certificate issued by Argentine authorities was decisive in proving that the ancestor never acquired Argentine nationality. The court also cited the precedent of the Corte di Cassazione (ruling n. 25317/2022), which addresses the imprescriptible nature of citizenship status — that is, the right to citizenship, once it exists, is not lost by the mere passage of time or by non-exercise.

Italian citizenship, when transmitted by descent without interruption by naturalization, constitutes a right that accompanies the individual from birth and does not expire by non-exercise.

Turin Court's Jurisdiction and Procedural Rules

The case was assigned to the Tribunale di Torino according to the jurisdiction rule that assigns the judgment to the court corresponding to the municipality of birth of the Italian ancestor, when the plaintiff resides abroad. This assignment follows criteria established by Lei 206/2021, which reorganized some of the civil procedural rules in Italy and now guides how judicial citizenship cases are distributed among the different courts in the country.

The case proceeded under the abbreviated procedure provided for in article 281-decies of the Codice di Procedura Civile, a procedure that tends to expedite cases with more objective evidence, as citizenship cases typically are. The final phase of judgment was resolved by written submissions, without the need for a hearing — another factor that helps explain why the case, despite all the documentary instruction required, reached a ruling in approximately 30 months.

What This Ruling Means in Practice for Brazilian Families

The ruling from the Tribunale di Torino reinforces a point that typically carries significant weight in recognition proceedings: proving the absence of naturalization of the Italian ancestor is a central step and, when well documented, can enable recognition even in the face of resistance from the Ministry of Interior.

The case also confirms that the judicial route continues to be a valid path for those seeking Italian citizenship, even though the process typically takes between two and three years until the final ruling. For Brazilian families with Italian ancestry and a history of emigration to Argentina or other Latin American countries, rulings like this serve as a reference for the type of documentation required and the line of reasoning that Italian courts have adopted.

It is important to note, however, that this ruling was issued based on a case filed in 2024, before the changes brought by the Decreto Tajani and Lei 74/2025. The new legal framework significantly restricted automatic citizenship recognition beyond the second generation, and families currently evaluating filing a lawsuit need to carefully verify whether their case still falls under the rules in effect before initiating proceedings.

Cases like the one decided in Turin continue to be closely followed by those researching Italian citizenship and seeking to understand how courts interpret current legislation. More updates on court decisions and regulatory changes can be followed in the news from Italy section of Raízes Italianas, as well as content about living in Italy for those already thinking about next steps after recognition.

Want to know if you have the right to Italian citizenship? Speak with a specialized advisor.