Italy Roots and Routes

Another court has requested a review the Tajani decree - now we have cases in Mantua, Turin and Campobasso.

March 11, 2026 is the date to watch!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1GPGGWE3uT/

🚨 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐏𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐈𝐍 𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐙𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐁𝐘 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 - 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓 𝐀𝐒𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐖 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍 ⚖️

The Ordinary Court of Campobasso has referred a new constitutional challenge concerning the Italian law that reformed the recognition of citizenship by descent (jus sanguinis). The court specifically questions the constitutionality of Article 3-bis of the Citizenship Law, introduced by Law No. 74/2025.

👩‍⚖️ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝?
According to the referring judge, this provision retroactively excludes individuals from recognition of Italian citizenship (if they didn't apply judicially or didn't get an appointment through the italian consulate before March 27, 2025) even though, under the previous legal framework, they would already have been entitled to obtain it.

📜 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝
In the court’s view, these new restrictions may conflict with fundamental constitutional principles, including:
• ⚖️ Equality
• 🧠 Reasonableness
• 🛡️ Protection of legitimate expectations
• 🚫 Prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of citizenship status

The measure is considered potentially harmful to rights that had already become established under prior legislation.

🏛️ 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞
This case adds to two earlier referrals to the Italian Constitutional Court:
• 📍 One from the Court of Turin
• 📍 One from the Court of Mantua

Both raised similar constitutional concerns regarding the recent legislative amendments affecting citizenship by descent.

📅 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟏𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔
As a result of these multiple referrals, the Italian Constitutional Court has scheduled a public hearing for March 11, 2026. During that hearing, the Court will examine the constitutional legitimacy of the challenged provisions, with particular focus on Article 3-bis governing citizenship by descent.

🌍 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬
The Court’s decision will be highly significant for the future interpretation and application of the law. It may directly affect thousands of pending administrative and judicial proceedings before Italian consulates and courts worldwide, and could reshape how Italian citizenship is recognized for descendants of Italian nationals living abroad.

My new favorite map -- https://italyrandr.com/schools/ -- of all the Italian Immersion schools I have found in Italy. You can visit my website to see the ones I've attended.
If you have attended one, please submit your review!

Holiday special from Italy Roots and Routes.... please visit https://italyrandr.com/holiday-gift/ to get started on the best Christmas gift you can give this season!

Guest Blog Post, written by yours truly...
https://bendlanguageinstitute.com/learning-italian/

I hope you enjoy!

Italian at BLI: My New Year’s Resolution That Became a Boarding Pass to Adventure - Bend Language Institute Italian at BLI: My New Year’s Resolution That Became a Boarding Pass to Adventure Opinion Piece by Beth Mazza Robertson | 5 minute read The New Year is a natural time for reinvention — a season of resolutions, bucket lists, and an exhausted return to normal. For me, January always feels like a

From our trip to Northern Italy 🇮🇹 -

Recommendations for Northern Italy Learn where we ate, stayed and toured while in Piedmont, Lombardy, Liguria and Veneto

Our last week in Italy was spent in Frascati, a suburb of Rome in the Castelli Romani. We love Roman food and were excited to try the traditional dining called fraschette. We did a driving tour around the different towns in the hills of Castelli Romani including Nemi, Castel Gandolfo, and Arricia. I have a new itinerary I wrote up for our trip and I'd love to share it with you. Comment below if you'd like a copy.

Today I picked up my clients' grandfather’s birth certificate from their ancestral Comune in Carovilli, Italy — the place where their family story began. Luckily my Italian is good enough, my husband is a willing driver in a rental car in the hills of Molise and now holding this document feels like holding a piece of history. Most Italian citizenship journeys start right here, in the local Comune, where we go in person to find the necessary documents that connect families back to Italy. Real documents, real roots, right from the source. 🇮🇹✨

We finished our second week in Verona and really fell in love with the City of Love. We enjoyed walking around the town and seeing all the sights. It feels like Verona is similar to Florence but smaller. The wine in Verona is amazing - we learned a lot about Valpolicella! The school was so great - I highly recommend .
I'm sure we will be back!

Spent this week in Verona for school at - great school with lots of nice people and fun classes. Spent the afternoons with Lance exploring Verona. It's a nice city with a nice sized Centro Storico and lots to see, do and eat! Especially nice to have our daughter from London come visit!
We'll be here another week so lots more to see and do.

Spent a lovely week in Sirmoine on Lake Garda. We hadn't heard of it before I began researching for this trip and when we arrived, we were quite surprised by the crowds. Not many Americans, but lots of people! It's a small place surrounded by water so it's hard not to notice the crowds. The weather was perfect - warm, sunny, no mosquitoes, with a lovely sea breeze.
We stayed at a hotel with a thermal spa with a nice pool and hot tubs. The food we enjoyed was all delicious and the people were warm and welcoming + tolerant of my Italian skills!

Yesterday, we left Sanremo after a wonderful week there... I loved being in class and exploring the region. We are certain that we will go back.
Instead of a direct train, we chose to have a couple of hours in Genoa to see the city. Not as well known for American tourists, and interesting, with lots of sites to see. Plus of course, we ate pesto and focaccia!