Italian Constitutional Court Hearing of June 9, 2026: What's Really at Stake for Your Citizenship Case

On June 9, 2026, at 9:30 AM Rome time, the Italian Constitutional Court will hold a public hearing that thousands of descendants of Italian emigrants have been waiting for. The hearing examines the constitutionality of Article 3-bis of Law No. 91/1992, the provision introduced by the Tajani Decree (D.L. 36/2025, converted into Law 74/2025) that dramatically restricted Italian citizenship by descent.

If you’ve been confused by conflicting headlines, contradictory court rulings, and the general uncertainty around what’s still possible for your case, this article gives you the facts. What the Court will examine, what it will not decide on June 9, and what the hearing actually means for descendants of Italian emigrants navigating the post-Tajani Decree landscape.

This is the most important Italian citizenship hearing of the year. Here’s everything you need to know.

What’s Happening on June 9, 2026

The Constitutional Court will hold a public hearing combining three separate referrals from Italian lower courts. All three challenge the constitutionality of Article 3-bis, the provision that limits italian citizenship by descent primarily to children and grandchildren of Italian citizens.

The three cases under review are:

Order No. 4/2026 from the Tribunal of Mantua, the lead case, brought on behalf of a Brazilian-born minor whose birth registration was refused by the Comune di Canneto sull’Oglio. The case is argued by constitutional law expert Alfonso Celotto and attorney Maria Stella La Malfa.

Order No. 40/2026 from the Tribunal of Campobasso, in the matter of brothers Agustin and Joaquin Lopez Alt v. Ministry of the Interior. Argued by attorney Marco Mellone.

Order No. 41/2026 from the Tribunal of Campobasso, a parallel case examining the same constitutional questions from a different procedural angle.

By combining these three referrals into a single hearing, the Constitutional Court has signaled that it intends to address the core questions raised by the Tajani Decree in a unified, coordinated manner.

What the Court Will Examine

The June 9 hearing addresses three fundamental constitutional questions that go to the heart of how Italy defines citizenship and who can claim it. Understanding these questions is essential to understanding what the outcome may mean for your case.

The Question of Retroactivity

The most significant issue before the Court is whether Law 74/2025 can apply retroactively. The Tajani Decree introduced restrictions that, in practice, affect descendants who were considered Italian citizens at birth under more than 160 years of consistent legal tradition. The Tribunal of Mantua argues that retroactively redefining citizenship status violates fundamental principles of legal certainty and the legitimate expectations of those who relied on the previous framework.

In plain terms: can a 2025 law take away a right that was granted at birth, decades before the law existed? This is the central question.

The Nature of Italian Citizenship as a Status

The Campobasso referrals, particularly Order No. 40/2026, raise a deeper question about the legal nature of Italian citizenship itself. According to consistent precedent from Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation, citizenship is a “permanent, original, imprescriptible status that belongs to the legal sphere of the person.” This principle was reaffirmed as recently as May 12, 2026, in Cassation Order No. 13818/2026.

If the Constitutional Court accepts this characterization, the implications for Article 3-bis are significant. A right that exists from the moment of birth and cannot be lost involuntarily would be difficult to reconcile with retroactive restrictions based on later legislation.

Discrimination Among Descendants

The third question concerns whether the Tajani Decree creates unjustified discrimination among descendants of Italian citizens. The new framework treats certain categories of descendants differently based on factors that may have no rational connection to a genuine link with Italy. The Mantua referral specifically argues that this differentiation may violate principles of equality protected by the Italian Constitution.

Why This Hearing Is Different from the March Ruling

If you’ve been following Italian citizenship news, you may remember the Constitutional Court’s earlier ruling on Law 74/2025. On April 30, 2026, the Court issued Judgment No. 63/2026, rejecting the constitutional challenges raised by the Tribunal of Turin and upholding the two-generation limit established by Article 3-bis.

That ruling was a disappointment for many descendants. But June 9 is not a repeat of March.

The Turin referral focused primarily on the two-generation limit itself. The judges asked whether Italy had the constitutional authority to restrict citizenship to children and grandchildren of Italian citizens. The Constitutional Court answered yes.

The Mantua and Campobasso referrals examine different constitutional dimensions. They do not directly challenge the two-generation limit. They challenge the retroactive application of the new framework, the nature of citizenship as a fundamental right acquired at birth, and the differential treatment of descendants.

These are distinct legal questions. The Court’s answer in April does not automatically determine its answer in June.

What Will NOT Happen on June 9

Before exploring what the hearing may mean, it’s critical to understand what June 9 is not.

The June 9 hearing will not produce a verdict.

A public hearing before the Constitutional Court is the moment of oral discussion. The parties and their attorneys present their arguments. The justices ask questions. The hearing is essentially the culmination of the briefing process, not the final decision.

After the hearing, the Court enters its deliberation phase. The justices discuss the case privately, draft the opinion, and eventually deposit the final ruling. This process typically takes weeks or months. For complex cases involving major constitutional questions, several months is the norm.

Do not expect to wake up on June 10 and find a final answer to whether Article 3-bis is constitutional. The hearing is the beginning of the decision phase, not its conclusion.

The Broader Legal Context

The June 9 hearing does not exist in isolation. It is part of a larger constitutional and judicial conversation that has been unfolding across multiple courts since the Tajani Decree was enacted.

On April 14, 2026, the Joint Sections (Sezioni Unite) of the Court of Cassation held a public hearing on what is known as the “minor issue,” a separate but related question concerning whether children automatically lost Italian citizenship when an Italian parent naturalized in another country before the child reached adulthood. The Procuratore Generale, the senior advisory officer to the Cassazione, sided with the plaintiffs against the government’s restrictive interpretation.

On May 12, 2026, the Court of Cassation issued Order No. 13818/2026, reaffirming that Italian citizenship by descent is “a permanent and imprescriptible right that exists from the moment of birth.” This ruling cited precedents going back to the Joint Sections’ 2009 decision and the First Civil Section’s 2014 jurisprudence.

Together, these developments establish that the legal battle over Italian citizenship is being fought on multiple fronts. The Constitutional Court is one of those fronts. The Court of Cassation is another. Lower courts across Italy are issuing rulings that interpret the law in light of constitutional principles.

The June 9 hearing is the next major event in this ongoing process. Whatever the Court decides will shape how all the other actors, lower courts, the Ministry of the Interior, the consulates, interpret and apply the law going forward.

What This Means for Your Case

It would be misleading to suggest that the June 9 hearing will produce a clear, immediate answer for every descendant of Italian emigrants. The legal questions are complex, the decision will take time, and the practical implications will depend on the precise wording of whatever ruling eventually emerges.

That said, several things are already clear.

The Tajani Decree did not eliminate all paths to Italian citizenship. It restricted the administrative pathway through consulates, but the judicial pathway through Italian courts remains open in many situations.

Cases involving the maternal line before 1948 are unaffected by Article 3-bis and continue to proceed through Italian courts under established jurisprudence.

Cases involving applicants who attempted to apply before the March 27, 2025 cutoff but were blocked by consular delays may have a path forward through Italian tribunals, as demonstrated by recent rulings such as the Bologna Court Judgment No. 3335/2026.

Cases involving the “minor issue” may be significantly affected by the Court of Cassation’s pending ruling, which could open new options for thousands of descendants.

Cases that don’t fit any of these categories require individual evaluation against the current legal framework, including the new requirements introduced by Law 74/2025.

What you should not do is assume your case is hopeless because of the headlines. The legal landscape is genuinely active, with new precedents being established at multiple levels of the Italian judiciary.

Why a Professional Case Evaluation Matters More Than Ever

Every case of Italian citizenship by descent is different. Generational lineage, dates of naturalization, maternal line considerations, documentation status, prior application attempts, all of these factors determine which legal pathway, if any, remains viable for a specific family.

In the current legal environment, with the Tajani Decree still in effect but multiple constitutional and Cassation proceedings underway, the value of a professional case evaluation has never been higher. The same case that might have been straightforward in 2024 may now require a different strategy. A judicial pathway that didn’t exist before may now be available. A case that seemed blocked may have a new opening.

The Bologna ruling demonstrates this clearly. The court recognized citizenship for a family of 11 descendants spanning four generations, applicants who, on paper, no longer qualified under the new law. The decision turned on specific facts: the family had documented attempts to apply before the cutoff, evidence of consular delays, and the legal framework in place at the time their right was originally vested.

These are exactly the kinds of details that require legal analysis to identify, document, and present effectively.

How THE CTZN Approaches the Current Legal Environment

For eight years, THE CTZN has guided Italian-American families through every dimension of the citizenship process. Our team includes US-based experts who speak your language and Italy-based legal partners who actually argue cases before Italian tribunals.

When the legal environment changed in 2025, we did not tell our clients to give up. We told them to prepare. We have been monitoring every constitutional referral, every Cassation hearing, every favorable lower court ruling that builds the jurisprudence shaping what’s possible after the Tajani Decree.

Our 100% success rate in 1948 court cases reflects nearly a decade of working within the Italian judicial system. That same expertise now applies to the broader range of cases that require judicial intervention under Article 3-bis. We know Italian judges. We know what arguments hold up. We know how to evaluate whether your case has merit in the new framework.

If you have been waiting for clarity before exploring your options, the June 9 hearing is a useful reference point. But waiting for a final ruling could mean watching favorable precedents pass you by, while families who acted on the evolving landscape secured their citizenship through the judicial pathway.

What to Do Now

If you have an active case or a potential case for italian citizenship by descent, the most valuable thing you can do is get a professional evaluation of where your case stands in the current legal environment.

Every family history is unique. The path forward, whether administrative, judicial, or otherwise, depends on details specific to your lineage, your documentation, your prior application attempts, and the current state of the law as it applies to your situation.

The June 9 hearing is part of a much larger conversation about Italian citizenship and who gets to claim it. That conversation is far from over. The decisions made in Italian courtrooms over the coming months will shape the landscape for years to come.

The descendants who position themselves well during this period are the ones who will benefit from the favorable rulings as they emerge.

Get Your Case Evaluated by Experts Who Know the Italian Legal System

The June 9 hearing is one of the most significant moments in Italian citizenship law in recent memory. But the hearing itself is just the beginning. The decisions that follow, from the Constitutional Court, from the Court of Cassation, from lower courts across Italy, will determine what’s possible for thousands of descendants.

Don’t navigate this landscape alone. THE CTZN has spent nearly a decade winning Italian citizenship cases in tribunals across Italy. Our Italy-based legal team is actively tracking every relevant ruling, every constitutional development, and every favorable precedent that could affect your case.

Let us evaluate your situation, identify the strongest pathway forward, and tell you honestly where your case stands in the current legal framework.

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The Italian courts are not finished. Your case may still have a future. Find out what’s actually possible.