On Jun 20, 9:15=A0am, Whileyouslept <whileyousl...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> UK HIGH COURT JUDGES DROP BOMBSHELL ON BROWN: 'British High Court
> Judges Rebuke Government Over Lisbon Treaty' - 'High Court Asks
> Government To Delay Ratification Of EU Treaty' - 'EU Treaty Not
> Ratified Without Court Ruling: Britain' -'Gordon Brown: High Court
> Judge's Calls For EU Lisbon Treaty Ratification Delay Makes No
> Difference'
>
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> British High Court Judges Rebuke Government Over Lisbon Treaty
>
> Deutsche Presse-Agentur,
> via MonstersandCritics.Com,
> Jun 20, 2008, 12:49 GMT
>
> London - British High Court judges Friday rebuked the government for
> pressing ahead with the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty while their
> decision on a legal bid to hold a referendum in Britain was still
> pending.
>
> The two judges said they were 'very surprised' to receive a letter
> from the government Thursday advising that it was pressing ahead with
> ratification.
>
> Their verdict on a case brought by a eurosceptic millionaire is due
> next week.
>
> However, the parliamentary process enabling Britain to go ahead with
> ratification was completed Wednesday when the House of Lords approved
> the necessary legislation.
>
> A last-minute attempt by Conservatives in the House of Lords to force
> a four-month delay in the ratification process following Ireland's
> rejection of the treaty was defeated.
>
> The High Court challenge over whether or not Britain should hold a
> referendum on the Lisbon Treaty was brought last week by Stuart
> Wheeler, a spread-betting millionaire and major donor to the
> opposition Conservative Party.
>
> Wheeler argues that the treaty cannot be ratified without a
> referendum, but the British government insists that the new amended
> treaty is sufficiently different from the earlier EU Constitution not
> to warrant a public vote.
>
> '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. The court expects
> judgment to be handed down next week. The defendants are invited to
> stay their hand voluntarily until judgment,' Judge Stephen Richards
> said in in a direction published Friday.
>
> Analysts said the judge's remarks were likely to be meant as a
> reminder of the independence of the judiciary rather than giving an
> indication of how the ruling would go.
>
>
Source:http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/uk/news/article_1412446.php=
/Br...
>
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> High Court Asks Government To Delay Ratification Of EU Treaty
>
> by Jenny Percival and agencies,
> The Guardian, UK,F
> Friday June 20, 2008
>
> A high court judge today called on the government to delay British
> ratification of the EU's Lisbon treaty until he delivered his ruling
> on a legal bid to force a referendum.
>
> Lord Justice Richards said he was "very surprised" to receive a letter
> from lawyers for the government yesterday saying that they were
> pressing ahead with ratification.
>
> Together with Mr Justice Mackay, the judge is hearing a case brought
> by Stuart Wheeler, the Eurosceptic millionaire, who has sought
> judicial review of the decision to ratify the treaty without a
> referendum.
>
> A ruling on the case is expected next week.
>
> After the EU (Amendment) Act gained royal assent yesterday, lawyers
> for the Treasury wrote to the high court to say: "The government is
> now proceeding to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon."
>
> In a direction released today, Richards said: "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.
>
> "The court expects judgment to be handed down next week. The
> defendants are invited to stay their hand voluntarily until
> judgment."
>
> Wheeler argues that he had a "legitimate expectation" there would be a
> public vote after one was promised by Labour on the constitutional
> treaty, the forerunner of the Lisbon treaty, which many argue is
> practically the same thing.
>
> The final stage of the ratification process, when the government
> deposits the articles of ratification in Rome, is likely to happen
> next month.
>
> The treaty will not come into force until all 27 EU member countries
> have done the same.
>
>
Source:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/20/eu.foreignpolicy1?gusr=
c=3Dr...
>
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> EU Treaty Not Ratified Without Court Ruling: Britain
>
> AFP,
> via Yahoo News,
> 20 June, 2008.
>
> BRUSSELS (AFP) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Friday that
> Britain could not definitively ratify the EU's Lisbon Treaty until a
> court has ruled on the validity of the move following a legal
> challenge.
>
> "Ratification will not take place of course until we have the
> judgment" of the court, Brown told journalists on the sidelines of an
> EU summit in Brussels focused on the treaty.
>
> Earlier a judge at London's High Court called on the British
> government to delay its ratification of the EU's Lisbon Treaty until
> he rules on a legal bid to force a referendum.
>
> The Lisbon Treaty bill was given royal assent on Thursday after being
> approved by parliament. The absolute final step in the ratification
> process comes when Britain deposits its "instruments of ratification"
> in Rome
>
>
Source:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080620/wl_afp/eutreatybritainreferen=
dum...
>
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> Gordon Brown: High Court Judge's Calls For EU Lisbon Treaty
> Ratification Delay Makes No Difference
>
> by Glen Oglaza
> Political correspondent , Sky News,
> Friday June 20, 2008
>
> Gordon Brown says a High Court judge ordering a delay in the
> ratification by Britain of the Lisbon Treaty will not make any
> difference to the Treaty's progress.
>
> PM: 'Ratification on course'Lord Justice Richards has asked the
> Government to delay British ratification of the European Union's
> Lisbon Treaty until he delivers his ruling on a legal bid to force a
> referendum.
>
> The judge said he was "very surprised" to receive a letter from
> lawyers for the Government yesterday saying that they were pressing
> ahead with ratification.
>
> Together with Mr Justice Mackay, the judge is hearing a case brought
> by eurosceptic millionaire Stuart Wheeler, who has sought judicial
> review of the decision to ratify the Treaty without a referendum.
>
> A ruling on the case is expected next week.
>
>
Source:http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91211-1319647,00.html?f=3Dr=
ss
Fresh EU Treaty Problem After Ireland
by Ingrid Melander and David Brunnstrom,
Reuters,
June 20, 2008.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union, reeling from Ireland's "No"
vote to its reform treaty, acknowledged on Friday that another member
state, the Czech Republic, has a problem with ratifying the text for
the moment.
"The European Council noted that the Czech Republic cannot complete
the ratification process until the constitutional court delivers its
positive opinion on the accordance of the Lisbon Treaty...," the
leaders agreed to say in a footnote to a final statement at a two-day
summit, diplomats re****ted.
It said 19 of the 27 countries had ratified the text and the
ratification process continued in other states. Leaders will review
the way forward at their next summit in October.
The treaty is designed to give the bloc stronger leader****p and
institutions to cope with recent and future enlargement.
All 27 member states must ratify for it to take effect. The Czechs had
sought to prevent any call for continued ratification after the June
12 Irish referendum defeat.
Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said a compromise was found
after breakfast talks between the German, Czech and Slovenian leaders.
Eurosceptical Czech President Vaclav Klaus declared the treaty "dead"
after the Irish vote and the Czech Senate has referred the text to the
constitutional court for a ruling not expected before October.
"We are a democracy -- even the head of state is allowed his own
opinion," Schwarzenberg joked. The independent pro-EU minister said he
still thought his country would endorse the text by year-end.
Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek -- seen as less keen on the treaty --
said on Thursday night: "If the vote was today, I would not bet 100
crowns on the outcome."
A European Commission official said: "It looks bad if we can't even
agree to call for ratification to continue. It looks like contagion."
CITIZENS' CONCERNS
French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a midnight news conference after
the first day of the summit: "There is particular difficulty with our
Czech friends. I hope we will be able to lift it by tomorrow morning."
He said all sides wanted to confine the problem to Ireland.
The treaty would give EU leaders a long-term president, a stronger
foreign policy chief with a real diplomatic service, a more democratic
decision-making system and more say for the European and national
parliaments.
Sarkozy insisted that without the Lisbon treaty, meant to overhaul the
EU's creaking institutions, there could be no further enlargement of
the Union -- a view contradicted by Slovenian Prime Minister Janez
Jansa, who chaired the summit.
Options mooted to resolve the crisis have included offering assurances
to the Irish that the Lisbon Treaty will not undermine their cherished
neutrality, deprive them of a commissioner in Brussels, make abortions
easier or raise taxes -- and then asking them to vote again, as
happened once before over an earlier EU treaty.
Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin sought to dampen expectations of
an early solution to reverse his country's vote.
"That Council in October is an op****tunity to make a progress re****t,
but we would not anticipate that there would be solutions on the table
in October," he told re****ters, referring to the bloc's next summit.
Sarkozy, who takes on the bloc's rotating presidency from July 1, said
he would visit Ireland next month to try to come up with a way
forward.
Determined to show voters the EU is not paralysed and is addressing
citizens' key concerns, the bloc's leaders will ask the European
Commission to study the feasibility of tax measures to ease the pain
of soaring oil prices and re****t back in October, the draft summit
statement showed.
"The European Council invites the Commission to examine the
feasibility of taxation measures to smooth the impact of sudden oil
price increases and re****t before the October European Council
(summit)," the draft said.
It underlined that distortionary fiscal and policy interventions
should be avoided as they prevent necessary adjustment to higher
energy prices by businesses and consumers.
EU officials stressed that agreement to study proposals such as
Sarkozy's idea of capping value-added tax on fuel or an Austrian call
for a tax on commodity speculation did not mean they would recommend
the measures, widely criticised by others.
(Writing by Paul Taylor; editing by Mark Trevelyan)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKL1718568120080620?sp=3Dtrue
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