(LONDON) - A judge at London's High Court called on the British government Friday to delay its ratification of the European Union's Lisbon Treaty until he rules on a legal bid to force a referendum.

Businessman Stuart Wheeler had applied for a judicial review of Britain's refusal to hold a public vote, claiming that Prime Minister Gordon Brown was "stifling democracy."

The Lisbon Treaty bill was given royal assent on Thursday after being approved by parliament. The absolute final step in the ratification process comes when Britain deposits its "instruments of ratification" in Rome.

Judge David Richards said he plans to hand down his ruling in Wheeler's case next week, and voiced surprise that the government was pressing ahead with ratification despite the pending ruling.

"The court is very surprised that the government apparently proposes to ratify while the claimant's (Wheeler) challenge to the decision not to hold a referendum on ratification is before the court," he said.

"The court expects judgment to be handed down next week. The defendants (the government) are invited to stay their hand voluntarily until judgment."

After the Lisbon bill gained royal assent, a Foreign Office spokesman said London planned to deposit its instruments of ratification in Rome "within weeks".

The process involves Rome because technically the Lisbon Treaty -- which was rejected by Irish voters last week, plunging to EU into a fresh crisis -- is an amendment to the Rome Treaty which founded the European bloc.

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