The Government received a total of 1,349 requests for information under the Code on Access to Information in the second quarter of 2016, a spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said today (January 27).

     The total number of requests received since the introduction of the Code in March 1995 and up to the end of June 2016 amounted to 52,562. Of these, 3,060 requests were subsequently withdrawn by the requestors and 2,428 requests covered cases in which the bureaux/departments concerned did not hold the requested information. As at June 30, 2016, 225 requests were still being processed by bureaux/departments.

     Among the 46,849 requests which covered information held by bureaux/departments and which the bureaux/departments had responded to, 45,758 requests (97.7 per cent) were met, either in full (44,766 requests) or in part (992 requests), and 1,091 requests (2.3 per cent) were refused.

     Any member of the public who is dissatisfied with the response of a bureau/department under the Code may request that the matter be reviewed. He or she may also lodge a complaint with the Ombudsman.

     In the second quarter of 2016, the Ombudsman received 19 complaints relating to requests for information. In this quarter, the Ombudsman concluded 10 complaints, among which one was partially substantiated, eight were settled after inquiries by the Ombudsman, and one was not pursued by the Ombudsman or outside the Ombudsman's jurisdiction. As at June 30, 2016, the Ombudsman's investigations on 21 complaints were ongoing.

     "The statistics show that the Code has provided an effective framework for the public to seek access to information held by the Government," the spokesman said.

Ends/Friday, January 27, 2017
Issued at HKT 15:00

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