Decision of the Court of Rome, I Civil Section, No. 6753 of 6 February 2014

The children of an Italian woman resident in the Dominican Republic, where she married a Dominican citizen, are Italian nationals, despite the law applicable at the time of their birth provided that the acquisition of nationality iure sanguinis was possible only by the father (law No. 555 of 1912). The same law established, in addition, the loss of Italian nationality by the Italian women married with a foreign citizen. Later, the Constitutional Court declared these provisions contrary to the Constitution, because in breach of non-discrimination principle and the principle of gender equality in family law. These decisions of the Constitutional Court apply, retroactively, also to pre-constitutional situations, because the citizenship status is permanent in nature, not subject to limitation and actionable before the courts at any time, except in case of renunciation.