| Statistics on Code on Access to Information for second quarter of 2017 |
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The Government received a total of 1,458 requests for information under the Code on Access to Information in the second quarter of 2017, a spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said today (December 29). The total number of requests received since the introduction of the Code in March 1995 and up to the end of June 2017 amounted to 58,257. Of these, 3,395 requests were subsequently withdrawn by the requestors and 2,776 requests covered cases in which the bureaux/departments concerned did not hold the requested information. As at June 30, 2017, 303 requests were still being processed by bureaux/departments. Among the 51,783 requests which covered information held by bureaux/departments and which the bureaux/departments had responded to, 50,567 requests (97.7 per cent) were met, either in full (49,438 requests) or in part (1,129 requests), and 1,216 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 2017, the Ombudsman received 27 complaints relating to requests for information. In this quarter, the Ombudsman concluded 18 complaints, among which three were substantiated, one was partially substantiated, 13 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, 2017, the Ombudsman's investigations on 24 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, December 29, 2017 Issued at HKT 15:00 NNNN |