The Government received a total of 2 778 requests for information under the Code on Access to Information in the first quarter of 2023, a spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said today (October 13).
      
     The total number of requests received since the introduction of the Code in March 1995 and up to the end of March 2023 amounted to 112 952. Of these, 6 670 requests were subsequently withdrawn by the requestors and 5 667 requests covered cases in which the bureaux/departments concerned did not hold the requested information or cannot confirm or deny the existence of information. As at March 31, 2023, 567 requests were still being processed by bureaux/departments.

     Among the 100 048 requests which covered information held by bureaux/departments and which the bureaux/departments had responded to, 97 002 requests (97 per cent) were met, either in full (94 303 requests) or in part (2 699 requests), and 3 046 requests (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 first quarter of 2023, the Ombudsman received 16 complaints relating to requests for information. In this quarter, the Ombudsman concluded 20 complaints, among which five were partially substantiated, 13 were concluded by inquiries (including four cases with inadequacies found), and two were assessed and closed. As at March 31, 2023, the Ombudsman's investigations on 14 complaints were ongoing.

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

Ends/Friday, October 13, 2023
Issued at HKT 16:00

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