STATE CLAIMS IN VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 4 (LOSC ARTICLE 7), France case

One of the more conservative breaches of this type has been committed by France off the western coast of Brittany and Vendee (see Fig. 5.13).
Although the coast in this area is somewhat indented, it is unlikely to pass the deeply-indented and cut-into requirement, and certainly not along the entire extent of the straight baseline claim. If that is the case, then France must rely on its offshore islands to justify the baselines in this locality. lie d’Yeu and Belle lie do not together constitute a fringe of islands. Each island stands alone, isolated from the other; and, in addition, the argument could be made that even though situated within the 12 miles which we have suggested as a parameter for “the immediate vicinity” of the coast, neither island meets the spatial relationship requirement of island to land mass, i.e., that it be situated “along the coast.” For this reason, the inclusion of lie d’Y eu and Belle lie within the French baseline singlehandedly creates a baseline which departs to an arguably appreciable degree from the general direction of the coast.