Nearly half of Euro rights judges weren't judges in their homelands

Nearly half of judges at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) did not sit on the bench in their home countries before being promoted to the controversial court.

Analysis shows 19 of 44 justices had no experience of being a judge before joining the Strasbourg court full-time.

Several of them were career academics and civil servants or diplomats with no experience of presiding over a case.

A further two of the total 46 judges - one for each member country - who sit at the ECHR were made ‘ad hoc’ justices despite having no previous experience in their homelands.

It comes amid growing concern about the quality of judges at Europe’s top human rights court and that it often overstretches its remit, with the Tories and Reform UK pledging to leave it if they win the next election.