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The Government received a total of 993 requests for information under the Code on Access to Information in the fourth quarter of 2012, a spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said today (March 12).
The total number of requests received since the introduction of the Code in March 1995 and up to the end of December 2012 amounted to 35,796. Of these, 2,032 requests were subsequently withdrawn by the requestors and 1,540 requests covered cases in which the bureaux/departments concerned did not hold the requested information. As at December 31, 2012, 75 requests were still being processed by bureaux and departments.
Among the 32,149 requests which covered information held by bureaux/departments and which the bureaux/departments had responded to, 31,383 requests (97.6 per cent) were met, either in full (30,670 requests) or in part (713 requests), and 766 requests (2.4 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 fourth quarter of 2012, the Ombudsman received 10 complaints relating to requests for information.
The Ombudsman concluded work on 14 complaint cases in that quarter. Of these 14 completed cases, four were substantiated, five were concluded and settled after inquiries by the Ombudsman and three were withdrawn by the applicants. The Ombudsman did not undertake investigation into two cases having considered the circumstances of the cases. As at December 31, 2012, the Ombudsman was still dealing with 12 complaint cases.
"The statistics show that Government bureaux and departments have been complying with the Code to the general satisfaction of members of the public," the spokesman said.
Ends/Tuesday, March 12, 2013
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