The Slovak Constitutional Court issued a preliminary measure banning President Ivan Gašparovič from signing the European Constitutional Treaty, which parliament overwhelmingly approved earlier this year.
The court accepted a complaint by the M. R. Štefánik Conservative Institute, which argued that there should be a referendum on the issue, the SME daily reported.
The Conservative Institute claims that by approving the treaty Slovakia has actually agreed to join another state formation. For such a move the Slovak constitution states that a referendum must be held.
Court officials said a final verdict on the complaint would be issued this year. According to legal experts it is still possible that the court will reject the complaint.
According to lawyer Radoslav Procházka, however, the fact that the court accepted the complaint for evaluation means that amongst Constitutional Court judges “there may be some doubts about the parliamentary proceedings” in approving the EU treaty.
Compiled from press reports.
Article was published on the website of the Slovak Spectator and is available here.
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