Bath man's EU treaty challenge
Papers will be served on a court in London on Monday by Carlo Ambrosino which seek a judicial review of the Government's decision not to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
The treaty has now been fully ratified, eight years after European leaders launched a process which they said would make the EU more democratic, more transparent and more efficient.
But Mr Ambrosino - who is also attempting to block council transport plans in the courts as well - says the manifesto on which Labour were re-elected four years ago had promised a referendum.
The self-taught campaigner is using the legal concept of legitimate expectation.
He said: "The legitimate expectations of millions of subjects across this fertile and green land have a voice and a right to be heard up and down this country, in the ballot box."
He said he had no view on whether the treaty was a good thing or not, but wanted people to be allowed to have a say.
Mr Ambrosino, who tried in vain to stop the demolition of Churchill House to make way for the city's new bus station two years ago, says he is ready for the costs of any court battle.
He will be faxing an application to the Administration Court in London on Monday.
Mr Ambrosino said he would be asking for a personal hearing to press the case for a judicial review.
Under EU rules, the treaty had to be ratified by all 27 member states before coming into force. The last country to ratify the treaty was the Czech Republic, which completed the process on Tuesday. The treaty is expected to become law in December.
The treaty is often described as an attempt to streamline EU institutions to make the enlarged bloc of 27 states function more efficiently. But its opponents see it as part of a federalist agenda that threatens national sovereignty.
Mr Ambrosino has a court date in Bristol on November 16 in his battle against Bath and North East Somerset Council's Bus Rapid Transit scheme through Newbridge - the planning permission for which he claims is flawed.
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