Britain’s withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights in favour of a British bill of rights would be Vladimir Putin’s ‘best present ever’, an East European delegate at a Council of Europe event for lawyers told the Gazette last weekend.

The source, who asked not be named, said that Putin, just re-elected as president of Russia, has always said that the Strasbourg court’s policing of human rights was ‘meaningless’. Another unnamed source, a former north European government lawyer, described the UK government’s attitude to the Strasbourg court as ‘Britain shooting itself in the foot. If the British don’t engage with Europe, they’ll lose influence and shouldn’t be surprised if Germany and France fill the vacuum.’

However, two top figures within the Council of Europe (CoE) told the Gazette that they supported prime minister David Cameron’s proposals to reform the court - so long as he put ‘quality before haste’.

Thomas Markert, head of the Venice Commission, the CoE’s independent legal thinktank, said: ‘Contrary to what Mr Cameron believes, we do not want to tell individual member states what they must do. We want them to earn their membership of the greater European community by listening to what we suggest and adapting accordingly.’

CoE head of human rights Philippe Boillat said that much work had already been done to reform the Strasbourg court and he welcomed Cameron’s involvement.

Boillat said: ‘We hope that agreement can be reached at the Brighton conference in April, when ministers from all 47 member states are to convene under Britain’s chairmanship of the CoE. The UK is a major force in Europe and we will watch proceedings with interest.’

The Gazette attended the ­plenary meeting (16-17 March) of the Venice Commission, which comprises lawyers from all 47 member states of the CoE.