In an astonishing fit of pique the think tank The Policy Exchange has claimed we should cut ties with the European Court of Human Rights because they are starting to dictate policy and they are obviously not keen on votes for prisoners. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12338931
   Whilst being interviewed their representative, Neil O'Brien, listed the various pros he could think of for such a move before stating that the only con was that it may mean withdrawing from the European Union but felt that this was unlikely. Seriously this is the only negative you could think of that such a drastic measure would have. How about eroding the human rights of every citizen of this country who would no longer have a higher court to appeal to once the established courts in this land had refused an appeal. The Strasbourg court have made a number of landmark decisions against the UK where the highest court in Britain was overturned. In Soering v UK (1989) the extradition of a German student to the US was prevented by the European Court as he possibly faced the death penalty. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soering_v_United_Kingdom
http://www.law-essays-uk.com/resources/revision-area/immigration-law/cases/soering-vs-united-kingdom.php
   Also in the case of Ireland v UK (1978) the UK was found guilty of inhumane treatment of prisoners after adopting the five techniques in Northern Ireland including sleep deprivation.
http://www.yourrights.org.uk/yourrights/the-human-rights-act/the-convention-rights/article-3-prohibition-on-torture.html
That is why a European wide court is necessary to keep national governments in check. You might not agree with all the decisions that are pronounced but they are not there to be popular similarly to most national laws and you can not pick and choose those that you don't like. I might declare that the law on theft was too autocratic and that I wished to opt out and follow my own moral code but as a member of society I must respect the rights of others within that society much as this nation must also respect the rights of other nations in the European Union (and everyone else).
   Incidentally how are these think tanks still existing? At a time when quangos are getting chopped down all over I would have thought paying a non governmental organization for policy advice when you have ministers for that sort of thing would come near the top of the waste pile rather than The Health Protection Agency or The UK Film Council.