​The Government received a total of 15 252 requests for information under the Code on Access to Information in the first quarter of 2026, a spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said today (June 15).
      
     The total number of requests received since the introduction of the Code in March 1995 and up to the end of March 2026 amounted to 311 979. Of these, 18 059 requests were subsequently withdrawn by the requestors, and 7 307 requests covered cases in which the bureaux/departments concerned did not hold the requested information or cannot confirm or deny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 March 31, 2026, 1 336 requests were still being processed by bureaux/departments.

     Among the 285 277 requests which covered information held by bureaux/departments and which the bureaux/departments had responded to, 281 589 requests (98.7 per cent) were met, either in full (278 153 requests) or in part (3 436 requests), and 3 688 requests (1.3 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 first quarter of 2026, The Ombudsman received 12 complaints relating to requests for information. In this quarter, The Ombudsman concluded 15 complaints, among which two were concluded by inquiries, and 13 were assessed and closed. As at March 31, 2026, The Ombudsman's investigation into four complaints was ongoing.

Ends/Monday, June 15, 2026
Issued at HKT 16:30

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