Italy: Excluding asylum seekers from civil registration is  irrational and unconstitutional

Italian Constitutional Court stated that excluding asylum seekers from civil registration in the Italian Registry Office is constitutionally illegitimate and violates the principal of “equal social dignity”. 

In July the Constitutional Court examined the constitutionality of the provision that restricts asylum-seekers from registering  their residence with the local municipality, a provision that was introduced into the legal system with the first “Decreto sicurezza” (“Safety Decree”, Decree-Law No. 113 of 2018).  On 31 July 2020, the Constitutional Court released its judgment (No. 186/2020).  It was stated that difference in treatment between individuals seeking international protection and other foreign nationals is unreasonable and has no justification - “refusal to register personal data is in violation of the principle of non-discrimination between those awaiting a final decision on their status and Italian citizens and any other foreign nationals regularly resident in Italian territory”. 

The Constitutional Court concluded that depriving asylum applicants from the legal recognition of their status as residents hence inequality and may result in various challenges, determine exclusion and the impossibility to access key serviced to which they are entitled. 



Resources: 
EXCLUDING ASYLUM SEEKERS FROM CIVIL REGISTRATION ALSO VIOLATES THE PRINCIPLE OF “EQUAL SOCIAL DIGNITY”

DECRETO SICUREZZA: THE PROVISION BARRING ASYLUM SEEKERS FROM REGISTERING WITH THE REGISTRY OFFICE IS UNREASONABLE