David Cameron will say it is the "right moment" to reform the European Court of Human Rights in a speech in Strasbourg.
The prime minister will say the court should not "undermine its own reputation by going over national decisions where it does not need to".
But the court's top judge said Mr Cameron's criticism was "simply not borne out by the facts" and Labour accused the PM of "peddling myths".
The European court has a backlog of more than 150,000 cases.
The UK currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of Europe.
In his speech to its Parliamentary Assembly on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Cameron will promise to use the remaining months of its term to press for change.
The UK has clashed with the European court over a number of issues.
Last week, Strasbourg upheld a challenge by radical preacher Abu Qatada that deporting him from the UK to Jordan would breach his human rights.
Westminster is also embroiled in a row with the court over voting rights for prisoners. The UK's blanket ban on prisoners voting has been held incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights but last year MPs voted to keep it - although the vote was not binding. A new ruling is due on the case soon.
'Small claims court'
In his speech, Mr Cameron will say that a commitment to human rights "runs deep in the British heart and long in British history".
But he will say the court of human rights "should not be swamped with an endless backlog of cases".
"The court should ensure that the right to individual petition counts. It should not act as a small claims court.
"And the court should hold us all to account. It should not undermine its own reputation by going over national decisions where it does not need to."
The PM will say the UK wants to achieve consensus between countries on "strengthening subsidiarity - the principle that where possible, final decisions should be made nationally".
He will say it is the "right moment" to reform the court to be "true to its original purpose".
'Good chance'
The BBC's deputy political editor James Landale said it was likely to be a slow process as the UK had to get the unanimous backing of the 47 member states. It only holds the Council of Europe presidency until May.
Ahead of Mr Cameron's speech, the court's top judge, Sir Nicolas Bratza QC, said "the criticism relating to interference" in UK affairs was "simply not borne out by the facts".
"It is disappointing to hear senior British politicians lending their voices to criticisms more frequently heard in the popular press, often based on a misunderstanding of the court's role and history, and of the legal issues at stake," he wrote in the Independent newspaper.
He said it was unfortunate that the prisoner voting issue "has been used as the springboard for a sustained attack on the court ".
The court's case backlog is coming down but still stands at more than 150,000 - many of which are inadmissible. Some cases take 25 months before they are even considered.
The UK believes most of these could be handled at national level, leaving Strasbourg free to focus its resources on things like torture and extra-judicial killings.
'Restless backbenchers'
But Labour peer and human rights lawyer Baroness Helena Kennedy QC said British cases making it as far as the court were few - and most cases came from countries with poor human rights records.
And Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan said the prime minister seemed "more concerned with placating his restless backbenchers than he is about protecting and promoting human rights across Europe".
He said Mr Cameron was less concerned about "a positive debate" on updating the way the court worked and more interested in "the peddling of myths that denigrate the human rights successes of the court and the convention".
Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party which campaigns for the UK to withdraw from the European Union, accused Mr Cameron of "blustering to no avail about the harmful effect of the European Court of Human Rights".
"The stream of ridiculous judgements from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, protecting drug dealers and known terrorists, will continue to bind us in knots while we are signed-up members of the EU."
The European Convention on Human Rights protections - such as the right to a private and family life and freedom of expression - became directly enforceable in UK courts in 2000 via the Human Rights Act.
In their 2010 election manifesto, the Conservatives pledged to replace the Human Rights Act with a UK Bill of Rights.
But when their entered government in coalition with the Lib Dems, who support the Act, they instead agreed to "establish a Commission to investigate the creation of a British Bill of Rights that incorporates and builds on all our obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights".
BBC © 2012
Source
The prime minister will say the court should not "undermine its own reputation by going over national decisions where it does not need to".
But the court's top judge said Mr Cameron's criticism was "simply not borne out by the facts" and Labour accused the PM of "peddling myths".
The European court has a backlog of more than 150,000 cases.
The UK currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of Europe.
In his speech to its Parliamentary Assembly on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Cameron will promise to use the remaining months of its term to press for change.
The UK has clashed with the European court over a number of issues.
Last week, Strasbourg upheld a challenge by radical preacher Abu Qatada that deporting him from the UK to Jordan would breach his human rights.
Westminster is also embroiled in a row with the court over voting rights for prisoners. The UK's blanket ban on prisoners voting has been held incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights but last year MPs voted to keep it - although the vote was not binding. A new ruling is due on the case soon.
'Small claims court'
In his speech, Mr Cameron will say that a commitment to human rights "runs deep in the British heart and long in British history".
But he will say the court of human rights "should not be swamped with an endless backlog of cases".
"The court should ensure that the right to individual petition counts. It should not act as a small claims court.
"And the court should hold us all to account. It should not undermine its own reputation by going over national decisions where it does not need to."
The PM will say the UK wants to achieve consensus between countries on "strengthening subsidiarity - the principle that where possible, final decisions should be made nationally".
He will say it is the "right moment" to reform the court to be "true to its original purpose".
'Good chance'
The BBC's deputy political editor James Landale said it was likely to be a slow process as the UK had to get the unanimous backing of the 47 member states. It only holds the Council of Europe presidency until May.
But Attorney General Dominic Grieve told the BBC he believed the chances of getting reform were "extremely good" because there was widespread backing for the UK's proposals to streamline the court's work, improve the system of appointing judges and stopping the court "micro-managing human rights".Sir Nicolas Bratza QC said:
Ahead of Mr Cameron's speech, the court's top judge, Sir Nicolas Bratza QC, said "the criticism relating to interference" in UK affairs was "simply not borne out by the facts".
"It is disappointing to hear senior British politicians lending their voices to criticisms more frequently heard in the popular press, often based on a misunderstanding of the court's role and history, and of the legal issues at stake," he wrote in the Independent newspaper.
He said it was unfortunate that the prisoner voting issue "has been used as the springboard for a sustained attack on the court ".
The court's case backlog is coming down but still stands at more than 150,000 - many of which are inadmissible. Some cases take 25 months before they are even considered.
The UK believes most of these could be handled at national level, leaving Strasbourg free to focus its resources on things like torture and extra-judicial killings.
'Restless backbenchers'
But Labour peer and human rights lawyer Baroness Helena Kennedy QC said British cases making it as far as the court were few - and most cases came from countries with poor human rights records.
And Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan said the prime minister seemed "more concerned with placating his restless backbenchers than he is about protecting and promoting human rights across Europe".
He said Mr Cameron was less concerned about "a positive debate" on updating the way the court worked and more interested in "the peddling of myths that denigrate the human rights successes of the court and the convention".
Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party which campaigns for the UK to withdraw from the European Union, accused Mr Cameron of "blustering to no avail about the harmful effect of the European Court of Human Rights".
"The stream of ridiculous judgements from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, protecting drug dealers and known terrorists, will continue to bind us in knots while we are signed-up members of the EU."
The European Convention on Human Rights protections - such as the right to a private and family life and freedom of expression - became directly enforceable in UK courts in 2000 via the Human Rights Act.
In their 2010 election manifesto, the Conservatives pledged to replace the Human Rights Act with a UK Bill of Rights.
But when their entered government in coalition with the Lib Dems, who support the Act, they instead agreed to "establish a Commission to investigate the creation of a British Bill of Rights that incorporates and builds on all our obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights".
BBC © 2012
Source
