The separation of powers between politicians and judges must be defended at all costs, according to a former President of the European Court of Human Rights, amid calls by some politicians to limit the powers of the judiciary.

Speaking at the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple in London last week, Gibson Dunn partner and former judge Robert Spano, called to attention the growing notion that democracy "simply means majority rule", a concept that "constitutes a claim that human life should be fully regulated by pure politics, and not law".