Court of Human frights
David Cameron's blast at Europe's daft judges
DAVID Cameron yesterday blasted European judges in Strasbourg for crazy rulings that could leave Britain open to terrorist outrages.
He launched a blistering attack on frightening decisions from the European Court of Human Rights — such as its BAN on Britain deporting hate preacher Abu Qatada.
The PM said it left the Government unable to "fulfil our duty to our law-abiding citizens to protect them".
In a keynote speech to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, Mr Cameron bluntly accused the court of sabotaging the UK's war on terror.
He also unleashed a broadside at rulings on illegal migrants — saying the court acted like an "immigration tribunal" — and prisoners' rights.
Mr Cameron's uncompromising message enraged many in his audience of European parliamentarians.
The Court's president Sir Nicolas Bratza — who blasted Mr Cameron this week — even snubbed an invitation to meet him, saying he was "busy".
But Mr Cameron is furious at convicted criminals and terrorists using the ECHR to torpedo UK court decisions. Britain loses three out of four cases taken to the ECHR.
The PM was unapologetic about condemning the ruling on Abu Qatada.
Britain jumped through every hoop and even won pledges that Qatada would not be tortured if he was sent back to Jordan.
Mr Cameron said: "The problem is that you can end up with someone who has no right to live in your country, who you are convinced — and have good reason to be convinced — means to do your country harm.
"Yet there are circumstances in which you cannot try them, you cannot detain them and you cannot deport them.
"So having put in place every possible safeguard to ensure that ECHR rights are not violated, we still cannot fulfil our duty to our law-abiding citizens to protect them."
The court was also guilty of trampling over British decisions on immigration and prisoners' votes, said the PM.
On immigration, he said the court is "too ready to substitute its judgment for that of reasonable national processes".
The PM said: "In other words, it should not see itself as an immigration tribunal."
He also said the court should respect Parliament's view that prisoners should not be able to vote.
Mr Cameron declared: "At the heart of this concern is not antipathy to human rights, it is anxiety that the concept of human rights is being distorted. It is in danger of slipping from something noble to something discredited — and that should be of deep concern to us all."
He slammed the way the court had let itself be swamped by potty cases.
In one example someone sought 90 euros compensation because their bus journey from Bucharest to Madrid had been uncomfortable. Mr Cameron called on Strasbourg to stop acting like a "small claims court" and start slashing the growing backlog of more than 160,000 cases.
Just 45,000 cases faced the court in its first 40 years — but in 2010 alone it was asked to consider 61,300 applications.
The PM wants a new British Bill of Rights to replace Labour's Human Rights Act.
He thinks the ECHR should focus on big human rights issues and leave national courts to deal with everything else. Mr Cameron made it clear that the court should concentrate on serious abuses in countries such as Belarus, rather than lecturing Britain.
His message triggered a series of hostile questions from his audience afterwards.
Several parliamentarians challenged his stance — while others blamed the City of London for sparking the economic crisis in Europe.
There was loud applause when Lithuanian left-winger Biruté Vésaité said: "I have a feeling that the world is governed not by democratically elected parliaments but by the banks. The big part of them are situated in London."
Socialist politicians condemned Mr Cameron for opposing plans for a Europe-wide tax on the City.
Last night Labour MP Paul Flynn — who heard the PM's speech — accused him of a "cheap shot that will not achieve anything".
But Tory MEP Sajjad Karim said: "Courts should serve the well-being and safety of our citizens, not have the opposite effect. Reform is long overdue.
Barmy ECHR rulings
John Hirst
THE axe-killer was twice backed by the ECHR in his fight to win prisoners the vote. Hirst was jailed for 15 years for hacking his landlady to death.
Abdi Sufi
THE serial criminal — who entered Britain illegally — was allowed to stay in the UK after judges said he could face inhuman treatment if sent back to his native Somalia.
Akindoyin Akinshipe
THE Nigerian rapist, 24, escaped deportation after judges ruled he had a right to a private life in the UK — despite having no wife, partner or children here.
Sean Taylor Sabori
THE drugs baron won £3,000 for invasion of privacy — after cops intercepted his pager messages.
He moaned about "interference with private life".
Abu Qatada
HATE preacher Abu Qatada — once described as Osama Bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe — last week won his appeal at the ECHR against deportation to his native Jordan.
The radical cleric is linked to al-Qaeda attacks and is wanted there for conspiring to carry out bombings. Euro judges said the UK could not deport him in case he did not get a fair trial.
The court accepted that he would not have been ill-treated there. Now Qatada — currently in a UK jail — could be released in days.
Churchill's bid to beat fascism
THE European Court of Human Rights was created in 1959 — a decade after Sir Winston Churchill first championed the idea.
After the horrors of the Second World War, Churchill believed the court — and Europe's convention on human rights — were vital defences against fascism.
For decades, the Strasbourg court lived up to his vision by successfully defending fundamental freedoms. When the Berlin Wall fell, it was a bulwark for human rights in former communist countries.
But in recent years the institution has been accused of losing focus of those original, noble goals. Instead it has become a haven for terrorists, criminals and chancers and is being swamped by a tidal wave of cases.
Labour incorporated the European Convention into English law in 1998, with the introduction of the Human Rights Act. This has spawned a booming UK human rights industry, which is largely reliant on barmy cases.
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