Statistics on Code on Access to Information for third quarter of 2016
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The Government received a total of 1,350 requests for information under the Code on Access to Information in the third quarter of 2016, a spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said today (May 17).
The total number of requests received since the introduction of the Code in March 1995 and up to the end of September 2016 amounted to 53,912. Of these, 3,155 requests were subsequently withdrawn by the requestors and 2,502 requests covered cases in which the bureaux/departments concerned did not hold the requested information. As at September 30, 2016, 246 requests were still being processed by bureaux/departments.
Among the 48,009 requests which covered information held by bureaux/departments and which the bureaux/departments had responded to, 46,885 requests (97.7 per cent) were met, either in full (45,875 requests) or in part (1,010 requests), and 1,124 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 third quarter of 2016, the Ombudsman received 26 complaints relating to requests for information. In this quarter, the Ombudsman concluded 26 complaints, among which two were substantiated, three were partially substantiated, two were unsubstantiated, 16 were settled after inquiries by the Ombudsman, and three were not pursued by the Ombudsman or outside the Ombudsman's jurisdiction. As at September 30, 2016, the Ombudsman's investigations on 21 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/Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Issued at HKT 15:00
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