IT seems that courts of all shapes and sizes are increasingly making judgements that defy common sense.

The European Court of Human Rights has effectively made it difficult, if not impossible, to deport the radical cleric Abu Qatada to Jordan, much to the anger of MPs and our government.

Now, on a rather more mundane level, the High Court has ruled that prayers said at council meetings are “unlawful”. The National Secular Society succeeded in bringing a case against a Devon council on the basis that local authorities have no power to hold prayers as part of a formal meeting.

It followed a complaint from an atheist councillor that his human rights were being breached. Firstly, you would have thought that an elected members would have better things to with his time. And as for saying prayers at council meetings in general, councillors these days need all the help they can get. Wherever it comes from.