March 10, 1975

Italy lowered its age of majority from 21 to 18 (Law no. 39 of March 8, 1975; effective March 10, 1975). Before this date, any Italian citizen who had not reached his 21st birthday was a minor. On or after this date, any Italian citizen who had reached his 18th birthday was an adult.

Minors are not legally competent to act on their own, independent of their parents, so they enjoy certain legal protections which can affect jure sanguinis citizenship cases.