Questione giuridica chiave
Whether the Federal Court had appellate jurisdiction over a citizenship-rights dispute decided by a cantonal civil court
Decisione estratta
No. Citizenship-rights disputes are public-law matters, and cantonal characterization as a civil case cannot confer Federal Court appellate jurisdiction under Art. 56 OG.
Motivazione estratta
The court held that its appellate jurisdiction extends only to civil disputes under federal law. A citizenship dispute concerns the individual's status vis-à-vis the state and is therefore public-law in nature. The fact that cantonal procedural law assigned the case to the civil judge does not change its legal character.