The Government received a total of 3 189 requests for information under the Code on Access to Information in the fourth quarter of 2024, a spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said today (July 25).
 
     The total number of requests received since the introduction of the Code in March 1995 and up to the end of December 2024 amounted to 134 124. Of these, 8 767 requests were subsequently withdrawn by the requestors, and 6 623 requests covered cases in which the bureaux/departments concerned did not hold the requested information or cannot confirm or deny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, 2024, 653 requests were still being processed by bureaux/departments.

     Among the 118 081 requests which covered information held by bureaux/departments and to which the bureaux/departments had responded, 114 706 requests (97.1 per cent) were met, either in full (111 597 requests) or in part (3 109 requests), and 3 375 requests (2.9 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 2024, the Ombudsman received 9 complaints relating to requests for information. In this quarter, the Ombudsman concluded 10 complaints, among which four were concluded by inquiries (including one case with inadequacies found), and six were assessed and closed. As at December 31, 2024, the Ombudsman's investigations into three 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.

Ends/Friday, July 25, 2025
Issued at HKT 15:30

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