Legal problems in relation to citizenship by investment programmes

Abstract

For several decades, many States have been implementing programmes granting citizenship in exchange for investments. There is no rule of International Law that prohibits States from granting this type of citizenship. The rule established by the International Court of Justice in the Nottebohm case, according to which nationality presupposes the existence of a genuine link between an individual and a State, does not result in the unlawfulness of granting a nationality that does not meet this standard of effectiveness, but at most prevents the invocation of such nationality against other States under certain circumstances. However, in the context of European Union Law, granting nationality in exchange for investments entails a violation of the principle of sincere cooperation, as declared by the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Commission v. Malta case.