Britain was yesterday threatened with having to quit the European Union if it refuses to 'kowtow' to Strasbourg's human rights judges.
The warning was delivered by the new head of the European Court of Human Rights, amid an increasing determination among Tory Cabinet ministers to leave its jurisdiction.
Judge Dean Spielmann, from Luxemburg, also insisted that ministers had a duty to grant the vote to prisoners.
His intervention once again puts the unelected court on a collision course with Westminster.
Technically, the EU and the European Court of Human Rights are separate institutions, with the ECHR overseen by the 47-member Council of Europe.
But Mr Spielmann opted to combine two of the most explosive issues in British politics by saying that, if we want to leave the court, we may also have to exit the EU.
His logic was that quitting the court would mean also exiting the Council of Europe. He added no state had ever been a member of the EU without first joining the council.
Mr Spielmann said: 'That would plainly be a political disaster.
'Any member state who would leave the Council of Europe, who would denounce the convention, would lose its credibility when it comes to promoting human rights also in different parts of the world.'
Last night, MPs said they would not give in to threats - particularly where they involved Britain's membership of the EU.
Tory backbencher Dominic Raab said: 'Mr Spielmann had no previous judicial experience before ascending to the heights of this European ivory tower, and it shows.
'The only thing undermining the credibility of the Strasbourg court are the Mickey Mouse judgments it spews out. He and the other judges should take a long hard look in the mirror before complaining about British democracy.'
Dominic Raab, Tory backbencher
He added: 'If Mr Spielmann thinks threatening to kick us out of the EU is going to persuade anyone in Britain to kowtow to the perverse rulings of the Strasbourg court, he's got another thing coming.'
Home Secretary Theresa May has said the UK should consider its relationship with the European court after a string of adverse judgments.
These include blocking the deportation of Al Qaeda hate-preacher Abu Qatada and the long-running battle over whether convicts must be allowed to vote.
Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary, has also discussed walking away from the court. This would allow the final say to rest with Britain's better qualified Supreme Court.
Judge Spielmann told BBC Radio Four that all decisions reached by his court must be respected - including prisoner votes.
This is despite the fact that the democratically-elected Westminster parliament has voted overwhelmingly to keep the ban in place.
He claimed: 'A decision of a court must be executed. If a decision is not executed this is a violation of the rule of law which is a basic principle of any democracy'.
Quoting a long-standing argument of the human rights lobby, he said there was a risk that such an attitude would set a bad example to other member states. He added: 'They might say "Well if the UK doesn't comply with our judgments, why should we comply?"
Judge Dean Spielmann
'Such an attitude causes real damage to the UK's international reputation, because it undermines the whole system and it causes great damage to the credibility of the UK when it comes to promoting human rights in other parts of the world.
The European court has 47 members, many of whom have no prior judicial experience.
The court's 'one country, one judge' rule means Liechtenstein, San Marino, Monaco and Andorra each have a seat despite their combined populations being smaller than that of the London borough of Islington.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'We are clear in the view that prisoner voting is a matter for national parliaments to decide.
'We will continue to push for further meaningful reform of the European Court of Human Rights when negotiations start later in the year.'
Britain must obey Strasbourg judges or quit the EU, warns new chief of European Court of Human Rights | Mail Online
IF the EU court can't protect us from foreign Muslims and terrorists and wont let us kick them outof the country then its as useless as the tits on a Boar anyway !
BRITAIN OUT!! **** THE EU
The warning was delivered by the new head of the European Court of Human Rights, amid an increasing determination among Tory Cabinet ministers to leave its jurisdiction.
Judge Dean Spielmann, from Luxemburg, also insisted that ministers had a duty to grant the vote to prisoners.
His intervention once again puts the unelected court on a collision course with Westminster.
Technically, the EU and the European Court of Human Rights are separate institutions, with the ECHR overseen by the 47-member Council of Europe.
But Mr Spielmann opted to combine two of the most explosive issues in British politics by saying that, if we want to leave the court, we may also have to exit the EU.
His logic was that quitting the court would mean also exiting the Council of Europe. He added no state had ever been a member of the EU without first joining the council.
Mr Spielmann said: 'That would plainly be a political disaster.
'Any member state who would leave the Council of Europe, who would denounce the convention, would lose its credibility when it comes to promoting human rights also in different parts of the world.'
Last night, MPs said they would not give in to threats - particularly where they involved Britain's membership of the EU.
Tory backbencher Dominic Raab said: 'Mr Spielmann had no previous judicial experience before ascending to the heights of this European ivory tower, and it shows.
'The only thing undermining the credibility of the Strasbourg court are the Mickey Mouse judgments it spews out. He and the other judges should take a long hard look in the mirror before complaining about British democracy.'
Dominic Raab, Tory backbencher
He added: 'If Mr Spielmann thinks threatening to kick us out of the EU is going to persuade anyone in Britain to kowtow to the perverse rulings of the Strasbourg court, he's got another thing coming.'
Home Secretary Theresa May has said the UK should consider its relationship with the European court after a string of adverse judgments.
These include blocking the deportation of Al Qaeda hate-preacher Abu Qatada and the long-running battle over whether convicts must be allowed to vote.
Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary, has also discussed walking away from the court. This would allow the final say to rest with Britain's better qualified Supreme Court.
Judge Spielmann told BBC Radio Four that all decisions reached by his court must be respected - including prisoner votes.
This is despite the fact that the democratically-elected Westminster parliament has voted overwhelmingly to keep the ban in place.
He claimed: 'A decision of a court must be executed. If a decision is not executed this is a violation of the rule of law which is a basic principle of any democracy'.
Quoting a long-standing argument of the human rights lobby, he said there was a risk that such an attitude would set a bad example to other member states. He added: 'They might say "Well if the UK doesn't comply with our judgments, why should we comply?"
Judge Dean Spielmann
'Such an attitude causes real damage to the UK's international reputation, because it undermines the whole system and it causes great damage to the credibility of the UK when it comes to promoting human rights in other parts of the world.
The European court has 47 members, many of whom have no prior judicial experience.
The court's 'one country, one judge' rule means Liechtenstein, San Marino, Monaco and Andorra each have a seat despite their combined populations being smaller than that of the London borough of Islington.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'We are clear in the view that prisoner voting is a matter for national parliaments to decide.
'We will continue to push for further meaningful reform of the European Court of Human Rights when negotiations start later in the year.'
Britain must obey Strasbourg judges or quit the EU, warns new chief of European Court of Human Rights | Mail Online
IF the EU court can't protect us from foreign Muslims and terrorists and wont let us kick them outof the country then its as useless as the tits on a Boar anyway !
BRITAIN OUT!! **** THE EU
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