A top EU judge has laid out a plan that would see the UK retaining access to the single market without being answerable to the Court of Justice after Brexit.

Professor Carl Baudenbacher, president of the court of the European Free Trade Association, would bring an end to the ECJ’s jurisdiction while accommodating European demands for independent judicial oversight of a future “deep and special partnership”.

Under the proposals, the UK would accept the jurisdiction of the Efta court, which currently oversees the EU’s relationships with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

While it decides matters of EU law, the court’s judgments are not binding on domestic courts.

The Swiss judge told The Times the case for Britain accepting the Efta court’s jurisdiction was compelling.

“If the UK sought a bespoke agreement with the EU, it would in my view need to accept a court. It is unlikely that the EU would agree to any such arrangement without a judicial mechanism,” he said.

He added: “If the UK did not wish to remain part of the EEA, but rather sought to be connected with the EU only in certain sectors such as through what Theresa May has called a ‘deep and special partnership’, that agreement could possibly be ‘docked’ to the Efta court.”