Campobasso Court Recognizes Italian Citizenship via Grandmother

The Tribunale di Campobasso recognized Italian citizenship for a Brazilian family that inherited the right through the maternal line, in a lineage marked by two breaks prior to 1948. The decision, handed down in sentenza n. 573/2026 and published on September 11, 2026, confirms that the judicial route remains a viable path for the so-called "1948 cases," even in a scenario of growing restrictions on administrative recognition of Italian citizenship.

What the Campobasso Court Decided

In ruling n. 573/2026, the Tribunale Ordinario di Campobasso granted the request for recognition of Italian citizenship iure sanguinis presented by a group of Brazilian applicants from the same family. The case, filed under R.G. 2361/2024, was registered in 2024 and reached its conclusion approximately 32 months later, in 2026.

According to the text of the decision published by Diritto Pratico, the Italian Ministry of the Interior, defendant in the case, did not appear in court and was declared in default. The Public Prosecutor's office, which acts in these proceedings as an intervening party, expressed itself favorably to accepting the request, understanding that the genealogical documentation presented was sufficient to prove the line of descent alleged.

Who Are the Applicants and the Line of Descent

The case brought together several ricorrenti from the same family unit, some litigating in their own name and others representing minor children — a common strategy in Italian citizenship lawsuits when multiple generations of the same family seek recognition simultaneously.

The descent was proven from an Italian ancestor born in southern Italy who emigrated to Brazil and never naturalized as Brazilian. This information was attested by a negative naturalization certificate, a document attached to the case file and considered a central piece of the procedural instruction — since the absence of naturalization of the original emigrant is an essential requirement to preserve the transmission of citizenship to descendants.

The family also presented a detailed family tree, with multiple generations and branches, connecting the Italian ancestor to the current applicants through birth, marriage, and death certificates duly translated and legalized.

The Central Issue: Transmission Through Maternal Line Before 1948

The most relevant element of the decision lies in the judge's identification of two breaks in the chain of transmission through the female line, both prior to the Italian Constitution of 1948. One of the family's women married a foreigner in 1928, and another in 1936.

Under Italian law in effect at that time — Lei 555/1912 — only the father could transmit citizenship to children, with rare exceptions. Moreover, an Italian woman who married a foreigner automatically lost her Italian citizenship, without this resulting from her own choice. As a consequence, these women could not pass Italian citizenship to children born of these marriages, even though they were biologically descended from an Italian citizen.

This is the classic scenario known as the 1948 case, or transmission through maternal line: the Constitution of 1948, by establishing the principle of equality between men and women, did not have automatic retroactive effect recognized administratively. For this reason, these cases necessarily require a judicial action, since consulates and, more recently, the Italian comuni themselves do not process this type of request through administrative channels.

The Legal Basis Used by the Judge

To support the decision, the Campobasso judge explicitly cited the precedent set by the Corte di Cassazione in a ruling of the Sezioni Unite (Cass. civ., SS.UU., n. 25317/2022). According to this understanding, which is binding on other Italian judges, anyone claiming recognition of Italian citizenship needs to prove only two elements: the acquisitive fact — that is, the birth of the Italian ancestor without his naturalization in another country — and the line of transmission to the applicant.

According to this precedent, it is not necessary to prove the "absence of naturalization" of each of the intermediate ancestors in the succession chain, but only of the original emigrant who left Italy. In the case tried in Campobasso, the court considered that the documentary evidence presented by the family was sufficient and coherent to fully grant the request, recognizing the Italian citizenship of all applicants involved in the action.

What This Means in Practice for Brazilian Families

The Campobasso decision reinforces that, despite recent restrictions imposed on administrative recognition of citizenship — such as those brought by the Decreto Tajani and Lei 74/2025 — the judicial route remains accessible and has been used successfully for cases of transmission through the maternal line prior to 1948.

It is worth noting that the case took approximately 32 months between filing and final judgment, a period that included a grant of an additional 60 days by the judge for the applicants to correct flaws in the initial petition. This detail underscores the importance of gathering and organizing all genealogical documentation rigorously before filing the action, avoiding procedural delays.

The case also illustrates a trend observed in various Italian courts: the joining of several members of the same family in a single judicial proceeding, which may represent savings in time and costs compared to separate individual actions for each applicant.

Source and Verification

The full text of ruling n. 573/2026 is available on the legal portal Diritto Pratico. The decision was handed down in first instance by the Tribunale Ordinario di Campobasso, in the section specialized in immigration, international protection, and free movement of citizens of the European Union — the body in Italy that concentrates jurisdiction to judge actions for recognition of citizenship iure sanguinis.

The ruling adds to a series of recent decisions by Italian courts that continue to validate the right of descendants of Italians through the maternal line prior to 1948, even amid legislative changes that have restricted other avenues of access to citizenship. More cases like this can be followed in the news from Italy section of Raízes Italianas, and practical guidance on documentation and procedures is available in the life in Italy section.

The Campobasso case confirms that Brazilian families with Italian ancestry marked by maternal transmission prior to 1948 can still obtain citizenship recognition, provided they gather solid documentary evidence and resort to the appropriate judicial route.

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