Former Labour peer Lord Janner could avoid attending court to face child sex abuse charges – after his lawyers claimed it would breach his human rights.

The 87-year-old ex-MP was last week ordered to appear in court to answer 22 allegations of sexual abuse against nine boys and men between 1963 and 1988.

A brief hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court has been scheduled for this Friday.

But Lord Janner’s legal team has asked the High Court to overturn the ruling that he must attend in person – insisting he is too ill and it would cause him ‘considerable stress and harm’.

The former MP for Leicester West – who served 27 years in Parliament from 1970 – denies any wrongdoing and his family insist he is ‘entirely innocent’.

Unless the High Court reverses the original decision Janner will be required to attend court in person.

A warrant could be issued for his arrest if he loses his appeal and fails to show up.

Janner was not required to attend court today, but his barrister Paul Ozin said lawyers are challenging the decision as unlawful in the High Court.

‘Given his family will have to take steps which would cause Lord Janner considerable stress and harm and we would say that there is a violation of his Article 8 rights because his own family are caused the onerous task of inflicting what they regard, and perhaps rightly, unduly foreseeable and unnecessary harm to Lord Janner,’ he said.