Under Art. 63 of the Czech Constitution, the power to negotiate and ratify international treaties resides with the president, but under Art. 87, the Constitutional Court must rule on the constitutionality of such a treaty before the president may ratify it. In the case of the treaty with the Vatican, which was signed by PM Petr Fiala on Oct. 24 and then approved for ratification by the two chambers of Parliament, Pres. Petr Pavel informed the Constitutional Court that he considers it unconstitutional. Lawyer Zdeněk Koudelka wrote in MFD today that the treaty is indeed apparently in conformity with the legal order but that it was a neglect of duty for Pavel to allow it to be signed if he considered it unconstitutional. Koudelka didn't consider the possibility that Pavel did this intentionally. A number of his supporters in the Senate are among those who filed a constitutional complaint against the treaty, but he'll be able to wash his hands of any blame and ratify it if the Constitutional Court gives its seal of approval.