Meanwhile, speculation is mounting that Britain could pull out of the convention all together. The move, expected to be announced by Home Secretary Theresa May, would mean foreign courts could no longer meddle in British justice.



Mrs May’s proposals to include the move in the next Tory manifesto reflect the party’s growing hostility towards Europe.



If agreed, her policy would leave British judges free to interpret the law without interference from the Strasbourg court.



Mrs May wants to withdraw from the convention before the next election in 2015, but Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has made it clear he will veto the plan.

Under Mrs May’s initiative, the final right of appeal would be to the British Supreme Court, not Strasbourg. Tory MP Nick de Bois, a member of the Commons Justice Select Committee, said the move would be hugely significant.



“This would be a crucial pledge that will convince many, many voters to return a Conservative Government at the next election,” he said. “ It is imperative that we have legal decisions made here, not in Strasbourg. With this pledge, no longer will foreign criminals be able to take refuge in this country when they should be deported immediately after being released from prison.”



An attempt to reform the convention last year by Mr Cameron was dismissed as a flop. The Prime Minister said the European court was in danger of being “ swamped” by unimportant cases and had undermined its own reputation by overturning judgments in British courts. Fewer cases should go to Strasbourg and British judges should be left to decide outcomes more often, he said.The Strasbourg court was set up in 1959 to prevent torture and human rights abuses, giving complainants direct access to justice at a European level.



But critics say the court has grown out of all proportion and its judges do not even need to have any judicial experience in their homeland.