Tribunale di Bologna decides on citizenship request (30/10/2026)

Judgment no. 6094/2026 from the Tribunale di Bologna addresses a request for recognition of citizenship and a challenge to L. 74/2025; the available excerpt shows the applicants’ requests, but does not present the final full disposition, which is why this filing is classified here as partial.

Summary of the decision

The Judgment no. 6094/2026 was issued by the Tribunale di Bologna on 30/10/2026; according to the decision text published by Diritto Pratico, the excerpt filed with the case contains the form of the appellants' requests — recognition of Italian citizenship iure sanguinis, a request for disaplicazione of L. 74/2025 (resulting from the conversion of D.L. 36/2025), and, subsidiarily, a request for referral to higher courts (Corte Costituzionale and/or the Court of Justice of the European Union). The excerpt provided does not include the full final dispositive (grant, denial, or detailed referral), which is why the filing is classified as partial due to containing the requests and grounds without the complete outcome. Source: Diritto Pratico — https://apps.dirittopratico.it/sentenze.html?c=https://apps.dirittopratico.it/sentenza/tribunale/bologna/2026/6094.html#72a9f.

What the appellants requested

The requests stated in the excerpt, in summary:

• Recognition of Italian citizenship iure sanguinis in favor of three applicants, all direct descendants of an Italian ancestor.
• Disaplicazione da L. 74/2025 (conversion of Decreto 36/2025) due to alleged unconstitutionality and conflict with international and European Union law.
• subsidiarily, suspension of the proceedings and referral of the constitutional question to Corte Costituzionale or, alternatively, a request for a prejudicial referral to the Court of Justice of the European Union (Article 267 TFEU) regarding the compatibility of art. 3‑bis, lett. c) of L. 74/2025 with EU law. (Source: excerpt of the judgment published by Diritto Pratico.)

Legal grounds invoked

In the available excerpt, the appellants base their requests on national and European norms and principles:

• Nationally, they cite Art. 1 of Law no. 91/1992 (ius sanguinis) and challenge Art. 3‑bis introduced by L. 74/2025.
• They invoke violations of constitutional principles — among others, Arts. 2, 3, 9, 22, 24, 25 co. 2, 30, 72, 77, 97 and 117 of the Italian Constitution — in the petition included in the excerpt.
• Regarding EU law and fundamental rights, they point to the TFEU framework (Art. 20 — EU citizenship; Art. 18 — prohibition of discrimination based on nationality; Art. 21 — freedom of movement) and to provisions of the Charter of Fundamental Rights (Arts. 21 and 47), as well as referencing EU Court of Justice jurisprudence (e.g., the Tjebbes line) as guidance for protecting EU citizens’ rights. (Source: excerpt of the judgment published by Diritto Pratico.)

What this means in practice for Brazilian families

The filing illustrates a legal strategy to seek, via the courts, a declaration of inapplicability of L. 74/2025 and, if necessary, trigger constitutional review or a prejudicial reference to the TJUE.

Key practical and up-to-date points (2026):

• Decreto 36/2025 (converted into L. 74/2025) significantly altered administrative and consular routes: the consular route is restricted to children and grandchildren of Italian citizens, and for many cases, administrative recognition in the comune is no longer viable for foreign applicants of later generations (e.g., great-grandchildren and beyond). Therefore, for many people the judicial route is, in practice, the only plausible path to challenge the new law.
• Proceedings filed BEFORE the effective date of Decreto/L.74/2025 are expressly protected by the text of the decree; this protection must be checked on a case-by-case basis using the filing date of the administrative or judicial request.
• Judicial cases seeking referral to Corte Costituzionale or a prejudicial reference to the TJUE can take years and may involve staying the national proceeding while awaiting rulings from higher courts.
• The central issue is substantive law: Decreto/L.74/2025 states that certain people born outside Italy who are not daughters or granddaughters of an Italian never were Italian, raising questions about whether a new law can retroactively extinguish a jus sanguinis right that existed at birth. This is the core issue in multiple lawsuits.
• Due to legal constraints, pursuing parallel administrative measures (e.g., with the consulate or comune) is often ineffective for great-grandchildren and later generations after 2025; however, lawyers may file provisional measures or other legal actions to attempt to obtain immediate effects, depending on the case.

For those preparing legal processes, the excerpt reinforces the importance of submitting robust documentation: full certificates with apostille and translation, documentary sequence proving the lineage, and elements showing, when claimed, the impossibility of choosing another citizenship by the ancestor. The filings also frequently include a clear formulation of the subsidiaries requests for referrals to higher courts.

Next steps and impact of the Tajani Decree (D.L. 36/2025 / L. 74/2025)

If the Tribunale di Bologna decides to refer the issue to Corte Costituzionale or to the TJUE, the determination on the compatibility of L. 74/2025 could take time and have wide-reaching effects:

• A potential declaration of unconstitutionality or a favorable TJUE decision for the applicants could, depending on the reach of the ruling, restore rights that the new law sought to retroactively extinguish; such a result could unlock recognition requests that were denied under the new law.
• Conversely, if higher courts uphold L. 74/2025, the new requirements and the administrative/consular path will remain, effectively very limited for great-grandchildren and later generations.

The filing published by the Tribunale di Bologna confirms that judicial challenge to L. 74/2025 remains the path chosen by many iure sanguinis applicants since 2025; the concrete effect of this action will depend on forthcoming court decisions, and the scenario remains subject to developments at Corte Costituzionale and the Court of Justice of the European Union.

"Sentenza n. 6094/2026, Tribunale di Bologna" — available excerpt published by Diritto Pratico: https://apps.dirittopratico.it/sentenze.html?c=https://apps.dirittopratico.it/sentenza/tribunale/bologna/2026/6094.html#72a9f

Read also pages about Cittadinanza Italiana and practical guidelines at /cidadania.

Raízes Italianas