Statistics on Code on Access to Information for fourth quarter of 2022

     The Government received a total of 2 553 requests for information under the Code on Access to Information in the fourth quarter of 2022, a spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said today (July 7).
 
     The total number of requests received since the introduction of the Code in March 1995 and up to the end of December 2022 amounted to 110 174. Of these, 6 460 requests were subsequently withdrawn by the requestors and 5 532 requests covered cases in which the bureaux/departments concerned did not hold the requested information or cannot confirm or deny the existence of information. As at December 31, 2022, 448 requests were still being processed by bureaux/departments.

     Among the 97 734 requests which covered information held by bureaux/departments and which the bureaux/departments had responded to, 94 732 requests (96.9 per cent) were met, either in full (92 084 requests) or in part (2 648 requests), and 3 002 requests (3.1 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 2022, the Ombudsman received 17 complaints relating to requests for information. In this quarter, the Ombudsman concluded 17 complaints, among which four were unsubstantiated, eight were concluded by inquiries, and five were assessed and closed.  As at December 31, 2022, the Ombudsman's investigations on 18 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.