Self-exiled former Democratic Party lawmaker Ted Hui described Hong Kong’s judiciary as “Communist Party courts” after a judge decided not to let him continue with a judicial review against the justice secretary.

Hui, who jumped bail and now lives in Australia, said the outcome of his review application “undoubtedly conforms very much with national conditions.” He said it showed the absurdity of the system and the decadence of its judges.

Before leaving Hong Kong in November, Hui had filed for a judicial review to challenge the decision of Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng to call a halt to two private prosecutions that he had initiated. The private lawsuits sought action against a taxi driver who allegedly drove his vehicle into a group of protesters in October 2019 and a police officer who shot a protester that November.

Hui later asked the court for the return of his passport so he could travel to Denmark. After this request was granted, Hui left Hong Kong on the pretense of attending a climate change conference in Copenhagen, and soon after his exit, Danish politicians, including Anders Storgaard and Uffe Elbaek, publicly suggested that the conference was a ruse to enable Hui to escape.

On Friday, Mr Justice Alex Lee of the High Court said he had “cogent reasons to believe that Hui was involved in a plan to mislead the court and the police into believing he was leaving Hong Kong temporarily when he in fact intended not to face his trials.”

Lee said Hui’s conduct “shows that he has no regard at all for the dignity and authority of the court and the administration of justice.” He added that Hui’s supply of misleading information to the court amounted to criminal contempt.

“As such, it would also be an affront to the public conscience, and would bring the administration of justice into disrepute, if he were able to invoke this court’s jurisdiction, which he despises, for his own ends,” the judge concluded.

Hui reacted to the judgment with a post on Facebook: “The rule of law may be dead, but the will of the people must not die.” He called on Hong Kong people not to be discouraged and to persevere on the way forward.

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