Judges will be told they can ignore rulings from the European Court of Human Rights, under plans to replace the Human Rights Act with a British Bill of Rights.

The blueprint, leaked to the Sunday Times, will tell judges they can rely on the common law or rulings by Commonwealth courts, rather than the Strasbourg court.

However, the Bill is expected to state that Britain will remain a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, although ministers are understood to be considering enshrining the notion of parliamentary sovereignty explicitly in law.

Soldiers will be given greater protection against claims for actions on the battlefield and journalists will be protected by a statement backing ‘freedom of expression’.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: ‘This is speculation. We will set out our proposals in due course.’