PhD defence
Who is a Foreign Investor? Natural Persons as Protected Investors in International Investment Law
- K.O. Soloveva
- Date
- Wednesday 17 June 2026
- Time
- Address
-
Academy Building
Rapenburg 73
2311 GJ Leiden
Supervisor(s)
Summary
This dissertation examines who qualifies as a protected foreign
investor under international investment law, with a focus on natural
persons. It analyses the evolving role of nationality as the central
criterion for investor protection, demonstrating that contemporary
treaty practice increasingly introduces alternative links, such as
permanent residence. Special attention is devoted to dual nationals,
especially those holding the nationality of both the home and host
States. In the absence of clear treaty guidance, arbitral tribunals
have adopted divergent approaches. The dissertation contends that
in such cases, subject to treaty language, the dominant and effective
nationality test should inform treaty interpretation.
This dissertation further explores procedural aspects of
determining investor’s status, including the proof of nationality
and the discretion exercised by arbitral tribunals in assessing
evidence. It further considers the limits of protection through
the application of the doctrine of abuse of process, focusing on
‘nationality planning’ by natural persons. While changes of
nationality are not inherently illegitimate, this dissertation
discusses how protection may be denied where such changes are
abusively undertaken to gain access to arbitration.
This analysis ultimately exposes the need to strike a balance
between traditional international investment law and progressive
approaches that foster the field’s further development.
PhD dissertations
Approximately one week after the defence, PhD dissertations by Leiden PhD students are available digitally through the Leiden Repository, that offers free access to these PhD dissertations. Please note that in some cases a dissertation may be under embargo temporarily and access to its full-text version will only be granted later.
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