Michael Gove, the new justice secretary, is to press ahead with plans to scrap the Human Rights Act which could see Britain pull out of the European convention on human rights (ECHR) if the reforms are rejected by Strasbourg.

Conservative party sources said that Gove, who was promoted to the post even though he has previously voiced his support for capital punishment, will implement human rights reforms that had been blocked in the coalition by the Liberal Democrats.

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The scrapping of the human rights act, a pledge included in the Tory manifesto, is one of the measures to be included in the prime minister's plans for the first 100 days, when the Queen's speech is delivered on 27 May.

The plans, which would see the human rights act replaced by a British bill of rights, would mean that the European court of human rights would no longer be binding over the UK's supreme court. The ECHR would also no longer be able to order a change to UK law although British citizens would still be entitled to appeal to the Strasbourg-based court.