Press Releases

     The Government received a total of 689 requests for information under the Code on Access to Information in the second quarter of 2012, a spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said today (August 23).

     The total number of requests received since the introduction of the Code in March 1995 and up to the end of June 2012 amounted to 34,072. Of these, 1,944 requests were subsequently withdrawn by the requestors and 1,433 requests covered cases in which the bureaux/departments concerned did not hold the requested information. As at June 30, 2012, 74 requests were still being processed by bureaux and departments.

     Among the 30,621 requests which covered information held by bureaux/departments and which the bureaux/departments had responded to, 29,886 requests (98 per cent) were met, either in full (29,194 requests) or in part (692 requests), and 735 requests (2 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 2012, The Ombudsman received 13 complaints relating to requests for information.
    
     The Ombudsman completed investigation of three complaint cases in this quarter. Of these three completed cases, one was settled after inquiries by The Ombudsman. The Ombudsman had not undertaken investigation into two other cases having considered the circumstances of the cases. As at June 30, 2012, The Ombudsman was still investigating 13 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/Thursday, August 23, 2012