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EU leaders have agreed the ratification process on the Lisbon Treaty will continue, although the Czech Republic has stalled pending a constitutional court decision. Lawmakers in the Senate previously petitioned the court to examine the document’s compatibility with Czech law before the matter went to a parliamentary vote. Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and other members of the Czech delegation at the EU summit in Brussels made sure a clause on the Czech situation was noted by the EU on Friday.

The Lisbon Treaty first hit a hurdle in Ireland’s referendum last week, where it was rejected by more than 53 percent of voters. That spurred critics of the document, including Czech President Václav Klaus, to declare it “finished”. EU leaders have since scrambled to save the project, aimed at reforming the functioning of the 27-member union.

Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek has changed his mind and said he would now bet that the Czech Republic will ratify the Lisbon Treaty, something he said he would not do just one day earlier. The prime minister made the statement on the second and final day of the EU summit in Brussels. The Czech Republic is one of eight EU countries still to ratify the document but the process has been suspended until the constitutional court assesses it's compatibility with Czech law. On Friday Mr Topolánek called the fact the Czech Republic managed to push through a statement in the summit's final resolution (stating Czech ratification depended on the constitutional court's decision) a “success”.

A Prague court has ruled that Czech lawyer Jiří Teryngel will remain in custody on the suspicion of tax evasion of more than 100 million crowns. Mr Teryngel's defence made the announcement on Friday saying the court had reached the decision on the grounds the defendant might otherwise try to influence witnesses. In all, four people have been charged in the case. The lawyer, who has maintained his innocence, is well-known in legal circles for involvement in a number of high-profile cases, including the defence of fugitive businessman Tomáš Pitr.

Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said the Czech Republic would not support further ratifications of the Lisbon Treaty. Mr Schwarzenberg told the Austrian daily Der Standard on Thursday that if the EU summit in Brussels comes up with such a proposal, the Czech Republic will not support it. The Czech foreign minister also said that it was very important for all EU institutions to “resist the temptation” and not pressure countries which have not yet ratified the Lisbon Treaty. Mr Schwarzenberg is attending an EU summit looking at ways out of the crisis caused by Ireland’s rejection of the reform document.

The Czech Republic is one of five EU countries which have not yet began the Lisbon Treaty ratification process. The Constitutional Court is due to rule after the summer on whether the document is in line with the Czech constitution.