Middlesex Guildhall – the home of the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. (0880963)

A BAILIWICK battle over constitutional reforms will now go all the way to the highest court in Europe.

Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay are planning to take their fight against Sark’s new political system to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

The move follows a ruling from the Supreme Court in London yesterday. It unanimously dismissed their argument that the changes introduced a year ago aimed at ending 450 years of feudalism breached the European Convention on Human Rights.

The dispute centred around the powers retained by the unelected Seigneur and Seneschal.

Sark held its first democratic election for 28 conseillers last December.

Sir David and Sir Frederick’s legal team argued that the new constitution did not meet human rights standards that protected the free expression of the opinion of the people in the choice of the legislature.

Yesterday, their local advocate, Gordon Dawes, confirmed that Sir David and Sir Frederick planned to take proceedings to Strasbourg.