Italian Constitutional Court, No. 25/2025, 30 January 2025

Knowledge of the Italian language and citizenship: new guidelines from the Constitutional Court on exemption for persons with disabilities

Articles 2, 3, 10 and 38 of the Italian Constitution 
Article 9.1. of Law No 91 of February 5, 1992 

In doing so, the challenged provision unjustifiably and unreasonably treats different situations equally: it establishes a uniform rule - the requirement to demonstrate language competence - that also applies to persons who, due to their disability, are in an objectively different situation from the majority of citizenship applicants. Conversely, the principle of equality requires, in the case at hand, that for this specific category of foreigners, the verification of integration occurs with requirements commensurate, and therefore proportionate, to their respective abilities; consequently, a differentiated regulation is necessary, with an exemption from the language requirement test.