As you may or may not be aware the Irish people are due to vote on the Lisbon Treaty in a few weeks. No other European nation has done this. Indeed, they do not necessarily get a vote on any treaty their government chooses to ratify. Irish law requires than the constitution be amended in order for the treaty to be ratified, which can only be done by referendum. No doubt this quirk of Irish law is the bane of assorted politicians, but recently a friend of mine(in the course of a drunken debate/yelling match re:Lisbon) commented that he likes that the Irish people get to vote on treaties such as this, and would like it if this were true of the rest of Europe. FWIW I loudly retorted that he was getting off topic and then wandered off to drink some wine.
In an effort to do the impossible and bring new content to NSG, I bring this issue to you, good NSGers. Would you prefer your country's laws gave you a vote on the ratification of treaties?
I, for one, have yet to be convinced either way, perhaps slightly leaning towards leaving treaties to the government. But, on the other hand, treaties are generally held to be legally on par with the highest laws of the land, at least, as far as I'm aware. It's a right head scratcher, aye.
