This was an appeal against the judgment of the Nouméa Court of Appeal, 1 July 2014.

Mr X, a Chinese national, the captain of a fishing vessel named the Hu Yu 911 sailing under the Chinese flag, and the holder of a fishing license issued by Vanuatu, was intercepted by the French Navy while fishing off the coast of New Caledonia. He was prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced for having entered the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of New Caledonia while flying a foreign flag without having informed the competent authorities, for having fished there without being the holder of a licence issued by the government of New Caledonia, and for having fished for prohibited species, in this case sharks.

Mr X appealed against this decision on the ground that the waters in which he was fishing did not fall within the New Caledonian EEZ, but were Vanuatese waters. The Court of Appeal reversed Mr X's conviction. The judgment noted that Vanuatu published in its official journal on 18 June 2010 a law on its maritime territory which provided that 'the exclusive economic zone covers the maritime area contiguous to the territorial sea which extends up to 200 nautical miles from the baseline', and then filed this with the United Nations on 20 July 2010 with a map showing the baseline. The Judges deduced from this that the Hu Yu 911 sailed within the EEZ officially and regularly claimed by Vanuatu to the United Nations, and thus respected the EEZ of the country which had issued its fishing licence.

The Procureur Général appealed, arguing that the Court of Appeal judgment violated arts 16, 57, 73, 74 and 75 of UNCLOS, art L 121-3 of the Penal Code, arts 11-4 and 15 of the Deliberation 50/CP of 20 April 2011 relating to the fisheries policy of New Caledonia, and art 3 of Decree 2013-1007 of 3 April 2013 of the Government of New Caledonia.

Held: Cassation.

Aricle 75 of UNCLOS provides as follows:

1. Subject to this Part, the outer limit lines of the exclusive economic zone and the lines of delimitation drawn in accordance with article 74 shall be shown on charts of a scale or scales adequate for ascertaining their position. Where appropriate, lists of geographical coordinates of points, specifying the geodetic datum, may be substituted for such outer limit lines or lines of delimitation.

2. The coastal State shall give due publicity to such charts or lists of geographical coordinates and shall deposit a copy of each such chart or list with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

In deciding as it did, despite the fact that Vanuatu did not proceed to the publication and deposit of the external limits of its EEZ, and that the waters in which Mr X was fishing fell within the EEZ of New Caledonia as defined on an application of the law of 16 July 1976, by a Decree of 3 February 1978, then delimited by a Decree of 3 May 2002, and by map n° 7361 of the hydrographic and oceanic service of the Navy, known as 'SHOM 73-61', which documents had been filed with the General Secretariat of the Secretary-General, the Court of Appeal disregarded the aforementioned provisions.

The decision of the Nouméa Court of Appeal is therefore struck down and annulled in its entirety and is referred to the Paris Court of Appeal to be tried again in accordance with the law.