LONDON (AFP) — Britain's ratification of the European Union reform treaty was abruptly put on ice Friday at the request of a High Court judge, adding a fresh twist to the bloc's latest institutional crisis.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, attending an EU summit in Brussels, agreed to delay ratification of the Lisbon Treaty pending a ruling -- expected next week -- on a legal bid to force a referendum in Britain on the document.
"Ratification will not take place of course until we have the judgment," said Brown on the sidelines of the summit, where last week's rejection of the treaty in a referendum in Ireland cast a pall over the proceedings.
The High Court ruling is due next week, leaving Britain's almost-complete ratification process on hold for the time being.
The unexpected turn of events came after businessman Stuart Wheeler applied for a judicial review of Britain's refusal to hold a referendum, claiming the government was "stifling democracy".
Judge David Richards said he plans to rule on Wheeler's case next week, as he expressed surprise that the government was pressing ahead with ratification despite the pending decision.
"The court is very surprised that the government apparently proposes to ratify while the claimant's challenge to the decision not to hold a referendum on ratification is before the court," he said.
"The court expects judgment to be handed down next week. The defendants (the government) are invited to stay their hand voluntarily until judgment."
The Lisbon Treaty bill was given royal assent on Thursday after being approved by both houses of Parliament, despite protests led by the main opposition Conservative Party which called for a referendum.
But the ultimate step in the ratification process would come when Britain deposits its "instruments of ratification" in Rome -- home of the Rome Treaty of 1957 which set the cornerstone of what is today the European Union.
Prior to Friday's developments, a Foreign Office spokesman said London planned to deposit its instruments of ratification "within weeks" and probably before parliament's summer break.
In Brussels, Brown said: "We actually wrote to the court saying we were proceeding to ratify so that they had the knowledge that we are taking the steps, which of course take days and in some cases weeks between the royal assent and the ratification."
"The judge has now replied that he expects to give his judgement next week and of course that fits in with our timetable, (given) all the different procedures before ratification."
Wheeler, a financial contributor to the Conservative Party, welcomed the judge's move. "The government cannot simply ignore the impending judgment," he said.
"You have to ask why the government felt it necessary to rush through the ratification of this treaty when only last night European leaders agreed to give the Irish 'time and space' to react after last week's 'no' vote."
"The treaty cannot legally be enforced until all 27 member states have ratified it," he added, "so why the rush?"
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