Judicial split over whether British courts can ignore strasbourg decisions

Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice, has criticised the influence of the European Court of Human Rights, stating that whilst British judges should take into account the Court's decisions, they should not feel bound by them.  The comments were made when Lord Judge addressed the Lords' Constitution Committee yesterday [19 October 2011].  However, Lord Phillips, the President of the supreme Court, suggested that British Courts were bound by strasbourg whilst the Human Rights Act 1998 remained in force.