Police can no longer ask drivers whether they were driving their cars when a speed camera captures their car registration. Historic buildings can no longer be protected by democratically elected ministers. Now the point is not that these were all bad decisions in themselves, but that they were bad decisions for the courts. If you are going to give Government a large amount of discretion over your life, then you should have a large amount of discretion over the government. If we can't decide how approaching half of our income is spent, or how some of the most fun ways to spend our spare time are outlawed then at some point or other we will want to have a say.
Democracy is a remarkably efficient way to both let off steam and to lose gracefully.
O f course, this would not be acceptable even if these judges were masters of jurisprudence, loftily independent yet aware of the cultural and political nuances of the countries on which they were pronouncing. However, it would make it far less humiliating. Every country that has signed up to this convention can appoint a judge to the European Court of Human Rights . There are some pillars of the independent judiciary in those countries, you know like Albania, Romania and Greece. Every country large and small, including Monaco and Liechtenstein , can appoint a judge.