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In depth
Law 555 of 1912 is the historical Italian citizenship law that governed citizenship transmission before 1992. It established the principle of jure sanguinis but restricted transmission to fathers only — mothers could not transmit citizenship to children born before January 1, 1948.
The 1948 Republican Constitution (Article 3) granted women equal rights, but the consulates long maintained that this rule was not retroactive. The 2009 Cassazione ruling overturned this interpretation, opening the 1948 judicial path.
Law 555/1912 also established that Italian citizens who naturalized abroad automatically lost Italian citizenship. This provision was repealed by Law 91/1992, which permitted dual citizenship.
Related terms
A 1948 case is a judicial petition for Italian citizenship filed in the civil court of Rome, available to descendants of Italian women who gave birth before January 1, 1948.
Jure sanguinis (Italian for 'right of blood') is the Italian citizenship-by-descent regime, which has no generational limit and is the most accessible CBD regime in Europe.
Law 91 of 1992 is the principal Italian citizenship law, which governs modern jure sanguinis cases and reformed Italy's approach to dual citizenship.
The anagrafe is the Italian civil registry office that maintains records of residents, births, marriages, and deaths in each Italian commune (municipality).
An atto di nascita is an Italian birth certificate, retrieved from the anagrafe (civil registry) of the commune where the person was born.
Stato civile (civil status) refers to the Italian system of civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths, maintained by the anagrafe in each commune.