individuals without the need for any internal legislation for the purpose of implementation. The court was responsible for determining whether a provision had been inadequately incorporated into the law and whether the international provision was clear enough to have direct effects. Any public authority, including the Department of Foreign Affairs* could express its views as to whether a provision had direct effects, but, in the final analysis, it was up to the courts to determine the provision's applicability. 402. Regarding the distinction, made in the Belgian Constitution, between civil and political rights, the representative said the current constitutional reform process aimed, inter alia, at simplifying that complicated issue. The best criterion for determining the nature of a right was the need for the legislature to refer it either to an administrative or an ordinary court. The German community had its own administration and government. The principle of territorial monolingualism required that residents of Flanders speak Flemish, and that residents of Wallonia speak French. In 27 border communes, known as "linguistic option" communes, people had the right to services in a language other than the official language of the commune. Dutch speakers represented a linguistic majority of 5.7 million, compared with 4 million French speakers. 403. Concerning Belgium's reservations to articles 19, 21 and 22 of the Covenant, the representative explained that articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights accorded greater rights of exception than those in the Covenant and Belgium had therefore decided to refer to the more explicit rights of exception in the European Convention. The procedure to ratify the Optional Protocol had been initiated and it was hoped that the Protocol would be ratified before Belgium's next report was considered by the Committee. Non-discrimination and equality of the sexes 404. Regarding those issues, members wished to know what inequalities still limited opportunities available to women; what measures had been taken to resolve those inequalities; what the restrictions were on the rights qf aliens as compared with those of citizens; what problems, if any, had occured because of migrant workers; why the Belgian Constitution, in referring to discrimination, did not discuss sex, race, colour or religion; how minorities were treated in law and in practice; what the "alarm-bell procedures" were; what the basis was for categorizing judges as Dutch-speaking or Frenchspeaking; why legislation had been enacted that discriminated against foreigners because of their nationality; why aliens were obliged to exercise "political discretion"; whether men and women had equal rights regarding their children's citizenship; and how prostitution was viewed. 405. In his response, the representative of the State party said that one fifth of the ministers in the current Government were women. Nevertheless, there were still inequalities in such areas as employment, salaries, training and promotion, as well as working conditions. Legislation and other measures, including equal opportunity programmes, had been adopted to promote equal opportunity for men and women in both the public and the private sectors. Except for rare cases established by law, foreigners enjoyed the same individual freedoms and civil rights guaranteed under the Constitution as Belgian citizens. However, there were restrictions on political activities by foreigners where such activities might pose a threat to public order or national security. The King was authorized, in the public interest, to -96-