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One of the country’s most senior judges has reignited the debate about the expanding power of European courts by admitting his “surprise” that a controversial EU charter which ministers opted out of is now legally binding in Britain.

Mr Justice Mostyn said it was “absolutely clear” from a protocol signed as part of the Lisbon Treaty that the European Charter of Fundamental Rights would not be enforceable in this country.

But he told the High Court that a ruling in Luxembourg had now reversed this position in a move which he said would permanently extend the reach of human rights legislation in Britain.

The judge added that the “constitutional significance of this decision can hardly be overstated”.

MPs reacted angrily and warned that British control over the justice system was being undermined by “dangerous and undemocratic” European interference in the rights of Parliament.

Mr Justice Mostyn’s comments came in a judgment on the case of an asylum seeker, AB, whose barrister cited the European Charter of Fundamental Rights in a failed bid to win his case.

The judge said: “I was surprised, to say the least, as I was sure the British government had secured an opt-out at the negotiations of the Lisbon Treaty.”

After quoting the relevant protocol, he added: “To my mind, it is absolutely clear that the contracting parties agreed that the Charter did not create one single further justiciable right in our domestic courts.”

The judge said, however, that the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg has since given a judgment which means that the Charter, which contains a “host of new rights” is now valid in British courts.

The judge added: “The constitutional significance of this can hardly be overstated. The Human Rights Act incorporated into our domestic law large parts, but by no means all, of the European Convention on Human Rights. Some parts were deliberately missed out by Parliament.

“The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union contains, I believe, all of those missing parts and a great deal more. Moreover, that the much wider Charter of Rights would remain part of our domestic law even if the Human Rights Act were repealed.”

Tory MP Dominic Raab said the judge’s comments should serve as a “warning” and added: “The imposition of new EU human rights against the will of Parliament is dangerous and undemocratic. If we’re not careful, we will lose control of our justice system.”

Enfield North MP Nick de Bois, a Conservative member of the Commons Justice Select Committee, said: “The fact that even a High Court judge can be shocked at the level of intrusion into British justice should be a red flag to ministers.”

The Charter of Fundamental Rights is part of the EU’s 2007 Lisbon Treaty, which sets out rights to environmental protection and medical treatment, as well as civil, social and other rights.

Former prime minister Tony Blair told Parliament at the time that Britain had secured an opt-out in response to concerns about the impact on British justice.