Hoge Raad van Slowakije stopt goedkeuringsprocedure Europese Grondwet (en)

Slovakia's top court has asked the country's president not to sign off on the ratification of the European constitution, until judges decide if there should have been a referendum on the new charter.

The constitutional court is expected to give its opinion by the end of this year on the appeal of 13 activists who argued the EU treaty would be equivalent to Slovakia joining a trans-national state, a decision which would need to be backed up by a referendum under the Slovak constitution.

According to legal experts, the move suggests there is some recognition for the group's reasoning among the top judges, although it could still be rejected in the final verdict.

But there is a possibility, the court might annull the parliament's ratification of the EU constitution, setting events in motion for a referendum on the draft treaty instead.

President Ivan Gasparovic was planning to sign the document this week, despite the initiative by the charter's opponents, according to the daily SME.

Slovakia's parliament ratified the EU constitution by an overwhelming majority in early May, making the country the sixth member state to give it the green light, shortly before a double rejection in France and the Netherlands a few weeks later.