A total of 589 requests for information under the Code on Access to Information were received in the fourth quarter last year, the Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Bureau says.

The total number of requests received since the introduction of the code in March 1995 amounted to 26,113. Of these, 23,304 requests (89%) were met, either in full (22,779 requests) or in part (525 requests).

Only 539 requests (2%) were refused, while 1,294 requests (5%) were subsequently withdrawn. The bureaux and departments concerned did not hold the requested information in respect of 940 requests (4%).