Cassazione 24045/2026: what it actually decided
The Joint Sections held that a child born abroad who was already a citizen of the country of birth from the day of birth did not lose Italian citizenship when a parent voluntarily naturalised abroad during the child's minority; article 7 of Law 555/1912 prevails over article 12, second paragraph, and loss can only come from the person's own renunciation after reaching majority. The judgment was deliberated on 14 April 2026 and deposited on 26 July 2026.
If you have seen one headline saying the minor age rule is gone and another saying the Joint Sections restored the minor age rule, both are describing this judgment. The first means the barrier is gone; the second means the century-old protective rule is back. They agree on the outcome and disagree only about what "the rule" names.
Covered
A child born abroad who was Italian by descent and simultaneously a foreign citizen from birth under the soil law of the country of birth. The parent's later naturalisation, during that child's minority, did not interrupt the line.
Not covered
A child who was not dual at birth, for example one born in a country without a soil rule, and who acquired the foreign citizenship derivatively when the parent naturalised. In the companion judgments 24184/2026 and 24185/2026, deposited 29 July 2026, that case falls under article 12, second paragraph, and the loss stands.
The question to put to your own file
On the day that ancestor was born, were they already a citizen of the country they were born in? Not "did they become one", but "were they one at birth". That single comparison decides which of the two cards above you are reading.
What the ruling also confirmed
- Citizenship acquired by descent is original, held from birth, rather than something conferred by the recognition procedure.
- Law 74/2025 does not disturb claims that had accrued and been filed by the cutoff of 27 March 2025.
The second point matters for people whose case was already pending: the 2026 reading of the 1912 statute applies to them, and the 2025 restrictions do not.
Why this reached the Joint Sections at all
For about a century the administration and the courts read article 7 as protecting the dual-at-birth child. From 2023 a run of Cassation decisions read article 12 as controlling instead, and the Interior Ministry adopted that stricter reading in circular prot. 43347 of 3 October 2024, which is when consular refusals began in volume. A genuine conflict inside the Court is what the Joint Sections exist to settle, and they settled it in the protective direction.
The administration followed on 10 August 2026 with circular prot. 65050, instructing consulates and comuni to apply the new reading and expressly superseding the 2024 circular. Practically, that means the argument is over in the offices as well as in the courts.
What it does not do
Two people can both have the minor-issue pattern in their family and get opposite results: the one whose file was pending before the cutoff, and the one who has not filed and whose nearest Italian ancestor is a great-grandparent.
- Court of Cassation, Joint Sections civil, judgment 24045 of 2026, deliberated 14 April 2026, deposited 26 July 2026, on an appeal against refusal of recognition.
- Court of Cassation, Joint Sections, judgments 24184/2026 and 24185/2026, deposited 29 July 2026, confirming and delimiting 24045.
- Law 555 of 13 June 1912, articles 7 and 12, second paragraph.
- Interior Ministry circular prot. 65050 of 10 August 2026, superseding circular prot. 43347 of 3 October 2024.
- Article 3-bis of Law 91/1992, unaffected by the ruling.
One next step
If your line has this pattern and you were refused because of it, the useful page is the next one: the request for re-examination costs nothing and goes to the office that refused you. If you have not applied at all, the prior question is still whether article 3-bis lets you in.
Run the free check, about two minutesIt asks the birth-and-naturalisation question directly.