«Chi fuor li maggior tui?»: la nuova risposta del Giudice delle leggi alla questione sull'attribuzione automatica del cognome paterno. Riflessioni a margine di C. cost. sent. n. 286 del 2016

In Italy, the choice to give a child his/her father’s last name was ruled by a tradition which was the base of a series of legal provisions. By its judgment n. 286/2016, the Italian Constitutional Court examines the vexata quaestio on the father’s surname and annuls the rule on the automatism of the attribution of the last name. This comment is mainly focused on the object of the constitutional review: its peculiar features are shown and analyzed. Particular attention is also devoted to the only parameter that the Court does not use in its judgment − i.e. article 117, first paragraph, of the Constitution of Italian Republic – and on the reasons and the effects of this choice. At the end, some perspectives de jure condendo are examined, taking into account what the Court suggests in its judgment on the need of the legislator’s action in regulating the attribution of the last name.