Hey guys - this is definitely NOT the place to give 'expert' advice to the flight deck community on an issue as sensitive as climb protocol on SIDs. The differing views and responses only go to show this.
Any member of flight crew that requires a definitive answer for a specific SID in a specific location/country should ask the question of the ATC unit concerned.
It's not possible to give a generalised answer that's accurate for all cases in every location and that won't lead you as a pilot into making an error!
vintage ATCO's summary is 100% correct for the UK - but elsewhere?
By the way, level busts in the UK are a tad more serious than VA suggests - they're one of the top safety concerns of NATS (as the UK's Area/En-route ATS provider) and of the UK CAA, which is why there's a great deal of effort going into trying to erradicate them.
