In this case, foreign citizens asked for the application of Article 1 of Law 91/92 and the transcription of their birth certificates issued abroad.
The trial judge upheld the Municipality's argument, observing that birth certificates issued abroad cannot be transcribed directly for the purpose of recognising Italian citizenship, at the request of foreigners who had reached the age of majority at the time of their parent's acquisition of citizenship, but it is necessary to initiate proceedings to ascertain their status.
In this regard, the trial judge stated that: "From the examination of the above mentioned legislation [art. 12 paragraph 11, art. 15, paragraph 1, art. 16, paragraph 1, art. 17, paragraph 1, Presidential Decree 396/2000) it emerges that there is no provision for the possibility of transcribing the civil status documents of persons who, although they probably meet the requirements for the recognition of Italian citizenship iure sanguinis, have never applied for such recognition... - the applicants, on the date on which their father's citizenship was ascertained (06/11/2013), were all of age: recognition of Italian citizenship iure sanguinis does not operate automatically in this case, but must be applied for and is subject to the fulfilment of all the conditions allowing the transmission of citizenship, the absence of renunciations or reasons that may have led to its loss.
The applicants, therefore, should first have initiated an administrative procedure at the Consulate aimed at verifying their possession of Italian citizenship and, only later, could they have requested the transcription of their birth certificates in Italy.
In the present case, the applicants' birth certificates were drawn up abroad, but they are not birth certificates of Italian citizens (they are currently only birth certificates of Brazilian citizens).
The applicants invoke the direct application of Article 12 of Presidential Decree 396/2000, which allows anyone who is interested in doing so to request directly the transcription of civil status documents from the competent civil registrar. It should also be noted that the provision in question (Article 12 of Presidential Decree 396/2000) must be read and considered within the overall regulatory system governing the registration and transcription of civil status documents and must be applied in a manner consistent with the rest of the legislation on citizenship and civil status".
Prof. Avv. Paolo Iafrate
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