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of the closing line of the indentation and the distance between this line and the most in-
ternal point of the indentation? At what distance from the coast should a fringe of islands
be located to be considered in its immediate vicinity? Should this distance be measured
between the coast and the closest island or the most external one? What should be the dis-
tance between the islands themselves in order to constitute a fringe? Could fringes located
inadirectionperpendicular tothecoast,andnotparallel toit,qualifyforstraightbaselines?
How is it possible to determine whether the drawing of straight baselines departs to any
appreciable extent from the general direction of the coast? How is the general direction of
the coast itself to be determined (it is evident that any conclusions in this respect are greatly
influenced by the scale of the map utilized)? In what cases can marine areas be considered
as sufficiently closely linked to the land domain? No clear responses are given.
All the problems would have been solved if the UNCLOS had established a limit of
maximum length for the segments of straight baselines. But this was not done and Art. 7
has been left vague despite some attempts to give more precision to its content. To infer
maximum length, limits could be considered a distortion in the interpretation of a provision
which has to be understood in conformity with its flexible nature.
Irrespective of the codified provisions, a practice has developed at the level of state
legislation. It shows that several coastal states rely on rather elastic criteria in the determin-
ation of the drawing of their straight baselines systems. It is true that questionable instances
may be found, but the criteria followed in average domestic legislations go far beyond the
strict wording of the relevant UNCLOS provisions. In deciding on 16 March 2001 the case
between Qatar and Bahrain on
Maritime Delimitation and Territorial Questions
, the In-
ternational Court of Justice pointed out that 'the method of straight baselines, which is an
exception to the normal rules for the determination of baselines, may only be applied if a
numberofconditions aremet.Thismethodmustbeapplied restrictively' (paragraph212of
the judgment). In spite of this warning, the practice of several states seems today definitely
oriented towards a quite liberal interpretation and application of such provisions. Protests
are in most cases limited to those made by a few countries or by neighbouring states which
