Hong Kong Ombudsman Connie Lau has announced a new website section about complaint cases relating to the Code on Access to Information and has prepared five short videos about the Code.
“From complaint cases handled in the past, we noted that some departments and organisations were not conversant enough with the requirements of the Code. Some have even failed to adhere to the spirit of openness and transparency advocated by the Code,” according to the statement.
Five episodes of “The Ombudsman 5-minuter” will air on two television channels and cover the following subjects: the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction, direct investigation, secrecy and privacy, the Code and mediation.
In the past three years (between April 1, 2013, and March 31, 2016), the office received 180 complaints relating to the Code and concluded 148 after investigation, the Ombudsman said. “In more than half of the cases concluded (79 cases), the departments/organisations under complaint were found to have inadequacies in handling requests for information.”
“The more common problems include failure to follow the Code and apprise the requesters of the reasons for refusing to provide information, wrong interpretation or citation of the reasons for refusing to release information under the Code, and delay or impropriety in handling requests for information,” according to the Ombudsman.
The new website section “recounts in simple terms some complaint cases investigated by the Office.”
Filed under: What's New