Dear Sir,

We refer to your email dated 1 May 2015.

The total number of requests received under the Code on Access to
Information (“the Code”) since its introduction in March 1995 and up to
the end of December 2014 amounted to 44,908.  Of these, 2,563 requests
were subsequently withdrawn by the requestors and 2,033 requests covered
cases in which the bureaux/departments concerned did not hold the
requested information.  As at December 31, 2014, 103 requests were still
being processed by bureaux/departments.

Among the 40,209 requests which covered information held by
bureaux/departments and which the bureaux/departments had responded to,
39,265 requests (97.7 per cent) were met, either in full (38,421 requests)
or in part (844 requests), and 944 requests (2.3 per cent) were refused.

During the period from January 2012 to December 2014, a total of 241
requests for information were refused.  A breakdown of the 241 cases by
reasons for refusal is as follows:

Reason for refusal No. of times quoted
(relevant paragraph of the Code)
Defence and security (paragraph 2.3) 4
External affairs (paragraph 2.4) 7
Nationality, immigration and consular matters 2
(paragraph 2.5)
Law enforcement, legal proceedings and public safety 27
(paragraph 2.6)
Management and operation of the public service 20
(paragraph 2.9)
Internal discussion and advice (paragraph 2.10) 18
Public employment and public appointments (paragraph 3
2.11)
Improper gain or advantage (paragraph 2.12) 2
Research, statistics and analysis (paragraph 2.13) 17
Third party information (paragraph 2.14) 91
Privacy of the individual (paragraph 2.15) 47
Business affairs (paragraph 2.16) 23
Premature requests (paragraph 2.17) 4
Legal restrictions (paragraph 2.18) 26

Note: The total number of refusal cases is exceeded by the total number of
times the reasons for refusal are quoted, as there may be more than one
reason to refuse a request.

Please be informed that we do not have further breakdowns of the numbers
of requests fully met, partially met and refused by department and by time
period.

Mr Brian CHIU
(for Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs)
***************************************************
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This e-mail message (together with any attachments) is for the designated
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designated recipient.  If you are not the intended recipient, you are
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From: Guy Freeman <[FOI #11 email]>
To: FOI requests at Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau
<[Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau request email]>,
Date: 01/05/2015 23:02
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Code of Access to Information
statistics

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau,

Please provide (as required under the Code of Access to Information) the
following statistics about requests made under the Code of Access to
Information to the Hong Kong Government, in particular:

* the total number of requests made
* the number of results of requests (for example, the number of requests
fully met, partially met, or refused), including reasons for refusal in
the cases of refusal

Please provide these statistics ideally by public body and by time period,
e.g. for each month, the number of requests fully met, partially met, or
refused, for each public body.

If any part of my request is not clear, please do not hesitate to ask for
clarification.

I look forward to your response.

Yours faithfully,

Guy Freeman

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This is a request under the Code of Access to Information facilitated via
the accessinfo.hk website.

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #11 email]

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requests to Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau? If so, please
contact us using this form:
[1]http://accessinfo.hk/en/change_request/n...

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Thank you very much for the message. The content has been noted. We shall
reply to you, where appropriate, as soon as possible. (Note: This is an
automatic reply to acknowledge receipt of your message. If you have not
sent us an e-mail, please kindly let us know by e-mail and ignore this
acknowledgement.)

多謝閣下的電子郵件，內容備悉。如有需要，我們會盡快作出回覆。(注意: 這是電腦
自動發出的回覆信息。 如閣下未曾向本局寄發電子郵件，請以電郵通知本局，並不必
理會以上的回覆。)

Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau
政制及內地事務局

Dear Sir,

We refer to your email dated 14 May 2015.

During the period from January 2012 to December 2014, a total of 241
requests for information made under the Code on Access to Information were
refused by bureaux and departments.  The bureaux/departments involved and
statistical data on reasons for refusal are provided in the attached file.

Brian CHIU
(for Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs)

***************************************************
本電郵(連同附加檔案)只供指定收件人閱讀，內容可能包括只有指定收件人才有權接
收的資料。如本電郵並非是發給你，你不得使用、保留、披露、複製、列印、轉發或
發放本電郵。如因錯誤致令你收到本電郵，請從你的電腦系統中刪除本電郵的所有複
本(包括附加檔案)，並立即通知發件人。

This e-mail message (together with any attachments) is for the designated
recipient only.  It may contain information that is privileged for the
designated recipient.  If you are not the intended recipient, you are
hereby notified that any use, retention, disclosure, copying, printing,
forwarding or dissemination of the message is strictly prohibited. If you
have received the message in error, please erase all copies of the message
(including attachments) from your system and notify the sender
immediately.

From: Guy Freeman <[FOI #11 email]>
To: [email address],
Date: 14/05/2015 23:40
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Code of Access to
Information statistics

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau,

Thank you for your response. I do understand that you do have the
statistics for refusals broken down by department, even if you don't have
that information by time period. Can you please furnish me with these
statistics?

Yours faithfully,

Guy Freeman

-----Original Message-----

Dear Sir,

We refer to your email dated 1 May 2015.

The total number of requests received under the Code on Access to
Information (“the Code”) since its introduction in March 1995 and up to
the end of December 2014 amounted to 44,908.  Of these, 2,563 requests
were subsequently withdrawn by the requestors and 2,033 requests covered
cases in which the bureaux/departments concerned did not hold the
requested information.  As at December 31, 2014, 103 requests were still
being processed by bureaux/departments.

Among the 40,209 requests which covered information held by
bureaux/departments and which the bureaux/departments had responded to,
39,265 requests (97.7 per cent) were met, either in full (38,421 requests)
or in part (844 requests), and 944 requests (2.3 per cent) were refused.

During the period from January 2012 to December 2014, a total of 241
requests for information were refused.  A breakdown of the 241 cases by
reasons for refusal is as follows:

Reason for refusal No. of times quoted
(relevant paragraph of the Code)
Defence and security (paragraph 2.3) 4
External affairs (paragraph 2.4) 7
Nationality, immigration and consular matters 2
(paragraph 2.5)
Law enforcement, legal proceedings and public safety 27
(paragraph 2.6)
Management and operation of the public service 20
(paragraph 2.9)
Internal discussion and advice (paragraph 2.10) 18
Public employment and public appointments (paragraph 3
2.11)
Improper gain or advantage (paragraph 2.12) 2
Research, statistics and analysis (paragraph 2.13) 17
Third party information (paragraph 2.14) 91
Privacy of the individual (paragraph 2.15) 47
Business affairs (paragraph 2.16) 23
Premature requests (paragraph 2.17) 4
Legal restrictions (paragraph 2.18) 26

Note: The total number of refusal cases is exceeded by the total number of
times the reasons for refusal are quoted, as there may be more than one
reason to refuse a request.

Please be informed that we do not have further breakdowns of the numbers
of requests fully met, partially met and refused by department and by time
period.

Mr Brian CHIU
(for Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs)

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #11 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[1]http://accessinfo.hk/en/help/officers

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

References

Visible links
1. http://accessinfo.hk/en/help/officers

hide quoted sections