Element 5 21. Some delegations considered the element to be generally acceptable. It was proposed to add the option of signing the optional protocol: "... option to sign and ratify or accede to the optional protocol". 22. The question of the status and impact of reservations entered to provisions of the Convention by States parties with regard to the admissibility of communications under the optional protocol was discussed. Delegations considered that ratification of the optional protocol would leave substantive reservations to the Convention unaffected, without prejudice to the permissibility of a reservation and its compatibility with the Convention and with international treaty law. While it was agreed that reservations were permissible under the Convention, reference was made to article 28.2: "A reservation incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention shall not be permitted." Thus, it was observed that it would be up to the Committee to examine the compatibility of such reservations with the Convention, and, consequently, the admissibility of a communication. 23. With regard to justiciability, it was suggested that this question would be especially relevant to discussions on the type of procedure to be contained in an optional protocol, and its relation to the various provisions of the Convention, including whether the programmatic provisions would be excluded from being justiciable under an individual complaints procedure. The view was expressed that only those provisions of the Convention that established absolute obligations could be justiciable. The types of views expressed by the Committee at the conclusion of an examination would also be relevant in this regard. 24. Some delegations stated that it should be left to the Committee to determine the question of justiciability on the basis of concrete cases, rather than to exclude a priori certain provisions. 25. It was stated that the question of justiciability was not limited to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It was also relevant to, for example, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, yet in that case, the complaints procedure of article 14 covered the Convention as a whole. In considering it, the importance of the implementation of treaties in good faith and according to the principle of pacta sunt servanda was stressed. Some delegations stated that, while some provisions of the Convention had direct effects and could, as well as should, be implemented immediately, including the non-discrimination provision, other provisions might have to be implemented progressively. The guiding legal principle, however, should be that States parties are under an obligation to take steps towards achieving the goals, an obligation for which they could be held accountable. Element 6 26. On the recommendation of the Chairperson, no in-depth discussion of element 6 took place, as subsequent elements addressed the various aspects of a communications procedure (elements 7-16) and an inquiry procedure (elements 17-23). 27. While some delegations proposed the retention of only the communications procedure, others noted the need for both a communications and an inquiry procedure. -109-