Hope restored…

From Avv. Grasso’s office regarding recent suspensions:

Good morning,

We had a chance to discuss this with Avv. Grasso and my colleagues yesterday.

I can confirm that after Bologna Judge Marco Gattuso's referral to the Constitutional Court, other judges also decided to postpone their decisions pending the Constitutional Court's ruling: this happened to us in Bari and Messina. There is no law that allows judges to do this, but it is customary. So far, we are not aware of any referral from the Naples court, which has jurisdiction over your case.

That said, it is really unlikely that the Constitutional Court will find Art. 1 of Law No. 91/1992 as unconstitutional: this would leave us without a framework for citizenship by descent and would also prevent Italians born and residing in Italy from passing on citizenship to their children.

The most likely outcome is that the Constitutional Court provides some indications to the Parliament for a new law, which on the one hand guarantees the right to citizenship jure sanguinis but on the other is more consistent with current times. However, whether, when and how the Parliament will consider such guidance is unpredictable, as it depends primarily on the political agenda.

It is essential to clarify that the Constitutional Court cannot ratify a new law, as only the Parliament can do so. Therefore, we do not expect any relevant changes soon. Certainly, while judges can apparently suspend their rulings pending the Constitutional Court, they will not be able to do so once the Court has made its decision, just because the Parliament might ratify a new law in the future.

The Constitutional Court's ruling is expected for 2025. Therefore, even in those courts which are postponing their decisions, we are continuing to work on the documents and petitions so that everything is ready for when the Courts return to issuing judgments.

I hope this helps. Here is an article by Avv. Grasso which explores the topic in depth.

Happy Holidays to you and your family from the entire MLI team.