Mr Costello said there was a âgood caseâ that a referendum was needed in order to ratify Ceta.
âOn Monday, I lodged proceedings in the High Court to seek clarification on who gets to ratify the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement, commonly known as Ceta. I had sought the opinion of counsel on the ratification process, in particular the Investor Court System (ICS) element of Ceta, which will come into effect if ratified.â
In a statement, Mr Costello said the investor court system âinvolves a transfer of sovereignty and of judicial power incompatible with the Constitutionâ.
He said: âIt is the opinion of counsel that there is a good stateable case that the ratification of Ceta, and in particular the ratification of the ICS without a referendum, would be contrary to article 15 and article 34 of the Constitution.