ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the controversial question of the international legal personality of juridical persons (i.e. corporations or partnerships). It is generally recognized that an entity qualifies as a subject of international law to the extent that it holds rights and is given the possibility to commence a direct claim against a state before an international tribunal. These conditions are clearly met by corporate investors in the context of modern IIAs. These treaties are, however, asymmetrical insofar as investors are being accorded substantive rights without being subject to any specific obligations. Investors under IIAs are therefore a very unique and peculiar type of subject of international law: they have rights, but no obligations.
