BackThe Office of The Ombudsman of Hong Kong has lately released the Annual Report for the period 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013. During the year, it received 5,501 complaints, 9.4% higher than last year’s. Arising from the processed complaint cases and own motion investigations, the Office made a total of 217 recommendations to the Government. As at 31 March 2013, 192 recommendations (88.5%) had been accepted for implementation.
The number of complaints received this year picked up again, reaching the figure of 5,501, or 5,263 if secondary cases in topical complaints were discounted, both the highest in the past five years. The number of enquiries maintained at a relatively stable level, slightly over 1,000 per month. Together with 848 cases brought forward from last year, the Office of the Ombudsman, Hong Kong had a total of 6,349 complaints for processing this year.
The largest group of topical complaints (with 114 secondary cases) arose from the Agricultural, Fisheries and Conservation Department’s measures to deal with stray cats, including its decision to charge $11 for claiming back a stray cat by its owner, a decision which the Department quickly withdrew shortly after commencement of our inquiry into the complaint.
The next largest lot of complaints (with 63 secondary cases) came from a group of detainees in a detention centre claiming ill-treatment. These cases could not be further pursued because the complainants either disclaimed to have lodged a complaint or were discharged and became untraceable subsequently.
Another group (with 36 secondary cases) concerned the use of simplified Chinese characters in certain decorative lightings. We did not inquire into these complaints as the matter had been resolved before our action.
The full Annual Report of the Ombudsman, Hong Kong can be found here.
Source : Office of The Ombudsman, Hong Kong
