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The Government received a total of 1,160 requests for information under the Code on Access to Information in the fourth quarter of 2013, a spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said today (April 4).
The total number of requests received since the introduction of the Code in March 1995 and up to the end of December 2013 amounted to 40,309. Of these, 2,288 requests were subsequently withdrawn by the requestors and 1,753 requests covered cases in which the bureaux/departments concerned did not hold the requested information. As at December 31, 2013, 91 requests were still being processed by bureaux/departments.
Among the 36,177 requests which covered information held by bureaux/departments and which the bureaux/departments had responded to, 35,325 requests (97.6 per cent) were met, either in full (34,558 requests) or in part (767 requests), and 852 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 2013, the Ombudsman received 20 complaints relating to requests for information. In this quarter, the Ombudsman completed the investigation of 18 complaints. Of these 18 completed cases, one was substantiated, one was partially substantiated, two were unsubstantiated, and 13 were concluded and settled after inquiries by the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman discontinued the investigation into one case having considered the circumstances of the case. As at December 31, 2013, the Ombudsman was still investigating 22 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/Friday, April 4, 2014
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