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The Government received a total of 1,215 requests for information under the Code on Access to Information in the third quarter of 2013, a spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said today (December 27).
The total number of requests received since the introduction of the Code in March 1995 and up to the end of September 2013 amounted to 39,149. Of these, 2,222 requests were subsequently withdrawn by the requestors and 1,695 requests covered cases in which the bureaux/departments concerned did not hold the requested information. As at September 30, 2013, 101 requests were still being processed by bureaux and departments.
Among the 35,131 requests which covered information held by bureaux/departments and which the bureaux/departments had responded to, 34,305 requests (97.6 per cent) were met, either in full (33,552 requests) or in part (753 requests), and 826 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 third quarter of 2013, the Ombudsman received 23 complaints relating to requests for information. In this quarter, the Ombudsman completed the investigation of 27 complaints. Of these 27 completed cases, four were substantiated, two were partially substantiated, three were unsubstantiated, and 16 were concluded and settled after inquiries by the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman had discontinued investigation into one case and had not undertaken investigation into another case having considered the circumstances of the cases. As at September 30, 2013, the Ombudsman was still investigating 20 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, December 27, 2013
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