The Unity Status of Continental States’ Outlying Archipelagos

Abstract

Abstract This article argues that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC) does not exhaust rules of baseline regimes; those for continental States’ outlying archipelagos were set aside for development outside the Convention by negotiating States during the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. Today, most of the continental States possessing outlying archipelagos have applied the unity theory to such archipelagos, many by enclosing them with straight baselines, which has been protested by very few States. The application of straight baselines to big- island-dominating outlying archipelagos may be justifiable under the second limb of Article 7(1) of the LOSC or a customary rule that it reflects, thus causing a fragmentation of outlying archipelagos; however, this alternative justification remains hypothetical and, even if established, would not detract from the generality of State practice applying unity theory to outlying archipelagos without such geographical configuration.