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Following is a question by the Hon Emily Lau Wai-hing and a written reply by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Henry Tang, at the Legislative Council meeting today (January 26):
Question:
The Public Records (Access) Rules 1996 (the Rules) establishes that, with certain exceptions, the public shall be granted access to most archival records that have been closed for at least 30 years. Access to archival records that have been closed for less than 30 years requires prior application in writing to the Government Records Service (GRS) Director. Upon receipt of such applications, GRS will refer them to the appropriate records creating agency for consideration and approval (or otherwise). In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council, since the Rules have come into operation:
(a) in respect of the records that have been closed for at least 30 years:
(i) of the number of records available for public inspection; of the percentage of such number in the total number of archival records which are at least 30 years old;
(ii) of the number of records classified as not available for public inspection and the grounds for the classification; and
(iii) of the number of applications from members of the public for access to archival records; the number of applications rejected by the authorities and the reasons for the rejection; and
(b) in respect of records that have been closed for less than 30 years:
(i) of the number of applications for inspection received by GRS;
(ii) of the number of applications for inspection approved by GRS; the types of these applications; and
(iii) of the number of applications for inspection rejected by GRS; the nature of these records; and the reasons for the rejection?
Reply:
President,
"Archival records" generally means documents and materials preserved because of their continuing or permanent value.
(a) The information requested in respect of archival records that have been closed for at least 30 years (as at the end of 2010) is as follows -
(i) 573,189 archival records are available for public inspection, representing 88% of the total number of archival records that are at least 30 years old;
(ii) 78,151 archival records are not available for public inspection. They include records containing personal data and classified records that are awaiting transferring agencies' confirmation of their access status; and
(iii) since 1996, seven applications have been received from members of the public for access to archival records that have been closed for at least 30 years. Three of them also involve records of less than 30 years old. Of the seven applications, three were rejected on grounds of personal data privacy or sensitive information.
(b) The information requested in respect of the archival records that have been closed for less than 30 years (as at the end of 2010) is as follows -
(i) since 1996, 152 applications for inspection of such records have been received by GRS;
(ii) Access to the records was granted in full or in part for 129 applications, which fell into two types: applications involving classified records (2 cases) and applications not involving classified records (127 cases). In addition, six applications are being processed; and
(iii) of the 152 applications, 17 were rejected, with three involving classified records and 14 involving non-classified records.
These applications were rejected on grounds that relevant records contained or involved sensitive information, including that relating to security, external affairs, third party information, information which would be privileged from production in legal proceedings on the ground of legal professional privilege, privacy of individuals, or internal discussion within the Government.
Ends/Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Issued at HKT 11:39
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