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Code on Access to Information further extended
The Government announced today (Tuesday) that a further 17 departments and four branches of the Government Secretariat would be subject to the Code on Access to Information from next Monday (December 11).
This will bring to 57 the total number of agencies covered by the code, which was first introduced nine months ago on a pilot scheme basis.
Under the code, anyone can seek information or copies of records held by government departments.
"A department can only refuse access to information in strictly defined circumstances, which must be explained in the event of a refusal," a spokesman for the Efficiency Unit of the Government Secretariat said.
"Anyone who thinks that a department has not complied with the code can ask for a review, or can complain to the Commissioner for Administrative Complaints."
It was also announced that the full text of the code, together with the Government's internal guidelines on how it should be interpreted, had been published on the Internet. The Internet address for the Code on Access to Information is http://www.info.gov.hk/access/index.htm.
The spokesman said that this was a logical way of publicising the code, given the rapidly increasing number of Internet users, and since the World-Wide Web was a popular source of information for students and journalists, two groups of people who appeared to be making increasing use of the code to support their research activities.
The additional branches and departments to become subject to the code on December 11 are:
Civil Service Branch
Financial Services Branch
Housing Branch
Trade and Industry Branch
Agriculture and Fisheries Department
Census and Statistics Department
Civil Engineering Department
Department of Health
Education Department