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The Government received a total of 1,298 requests for information under the Code on Access to Information in the second quarter of 2014, 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 June 2014 amounted to 42,803. Of these, 2,405 requests were subsequently withdrawn by the requestors and 1,896 requests covered cases in which the bureaux/departments concerned did not hold the requested information. As at June 30, 2014, 121 requests were still being processed by bureaux/departments.
Among the 38,381 requests which covered information held by bureaux/departments and which the bureaux/departments had responded to, 37,477 requests (97.6 per cent) were met, either in full (36,675 requests) or in part (802 requests), and 904 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 second quarter of 2014, the Ombudsman received 17 complaints relating to requests for information. In this quarter, the Ombudsman completed the investigation of 17 complaints. Of these 17 completed cases, one was substantiated, two were partially substantiated, 10 were concluded and settled after inquiries by the Ombudsman and one was withdrawn by the complainant. The Ombudsman had discontinued investigation into two cases and had not undertaken investigation into another case having considered the circumstances of the cases. As at June 30, 2014, the Ombudsman was still investigating 14 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/Monday, October 13, 2014
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