On June 9, a public oral hearing was held before the Constitutional Court on referral orders nos. 4, 40, and 41/2026 concerning the constitutional legitimacy of Article 3-bis of Law No. 91/1992, as introduced by Decree-Law No. 36/2025 and converted into Law No. 74/2025, which radically changed the acquisition of Italian citizenship by *ius sanguinis*.
The private parties argued on behalf of some Italian citizens born abroad who were affected by the reform. They challenged some of the core assumptions of judgment No. 63/2026, especially the reinterpretation of *ius sanguinis* citizenship. They also pointed to the case of a person who allegedly received a job offer from another EU member state, conditional on access to the EU territory. In addition, because three appeals had already been discussed before the United Sections of the Court of Cassation, they asked the Constitutional Court to wait for that ruling before deciding. Actually, none of those arguments appear persuasive.
Another, more interesting intervention addressed the possible unlawfulness of the safeguard clause insofar as it excludes those who expressed their intention to obtain citizenship but were unable, for reasons beyond their control, to secure a consular appointment. On this point, see our article published on 14 January 2026 on “Federalismi”.
The Constitutional Court reserved judgment. As a fallback, counsel for the private parties asked for a preliminary reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union on whether Article 3-bis is compatible with Articles 9 TEU and 20 TFEU.
A ruling from the United Sections of the Court of Cassation on the scope of the provision is also still awaited in the coming weeks.