A/HRC/8/4 page 19 of legislation and legal precedent. This disparity is essentially due to the limitations on their legal enforceability, which is why access to justice for this category of rights is of such crucial importance today. In this regard, the development that has taken place in doctrine and case law over the past 20 years is encouraging. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights notes, for example, in its general comment No. 3 (1990) on the nature of States parties’ obligations, that the rights recognized in the Covenant entail immediate obligations not subject to the availability of resources or to progressive realization.50 In its general comment No. 9 (1998) on the domestic application of the Covenant it stresses that the means used by States to enforce those rights are ineffective if they are not reinforced or complemented by judicial remedies; and that, although the right to an effective remedy should not necessarily be interpreted as an absolute or exclusive requirement for a judicial remedy, it is appropriate to establish an ultimate right of judicial appeal before the courts.51 45. As to the matter of enforceability, the draft optional protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights52 constitutes a decisive step in that it will make it possible to submit to the Committee individual complaints alleging violations of economic, cultural and social rights.53 46. A key issue in relation to this category of rights is the low level of enforcement of court decisions, which affects access to justice, when the means to enforce decisions are lacking. It is at this juncture between access to justice and the right to an effective remedy that economic, social and cultural rights require enforceability.54 The judiciary performs an important role in 50 Vid. CDESC, Observación General núm. 3: La índole de las obligaciones de los Estados parte, Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.7, 12 de mayo de 2004. 51 Comité Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales, Observación General nº 9, La aplicación interna del Pacto, E/C.12/1998/24, 3 de diciembre de 1998. 52 Vid. Documentos de la Coalición para la adopción de un Protocolo Adicional al PIDESC, y http://www.opicescr-coalition.org/y documentos del Grupo de Trabajo de Naciones Unidas Para un Protocolo Adicional al PIDESC, http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/escr/intro. 53 Cabe insistir en el hecho de que este instrumento no crearía nuevas obligaciones ni extendería las obligaciones ya existentes que los Estados Partes aceptaron al ratificar el PIDESC. Únicamente se establecería un nuevo mecanismo de exigibilidad para que, en efecto, se cumplan las obligaciones ya existentes por los Estados. El artículo 2 del Pacto establece la obligación de tomar las medidas necesarias para que con el máximo de los recursos disponibles del Estado se logre progresivamente la efectividad de los derechos económicos, sociales y culturales. Los Estados, al adoptar el posible Protocolo estarían tomando una nueva medida para lograr la realización de dichos derechos en el plano internacional. 54 Vid. Leandro Despouy, Informe A/HRC/4/25,18 de diciembre de 2006, p. 8, pár. 21.