(Promulgated on January 20, 2004 by Decree No. 19 of the
Shanghai Municipal People' s Government)
Chapter I
General Provisions
Article 1 (Purpose and Basis)
With a view to establishing an impartial and
transparent administrative system, and ensuring the right to be in the know of
the
citizens, legal entities and other organizations, so as to protect their own
legitimate rights and interests, and supervise the
performance by government
organs of their functions and duties according to law, these Provisions have
been formulated in accordance
with relevant provisions of laws and regulations,
and in the light of the actual circumstances of this Municipality.¡¡¡¡
Article 2 (Definitions)
For the purpose of these Provisions, government
information refers to the contents in the possession of government organs
related
to the economy, social administration and public services and reflected
in such carriers as paper, films, magnetic tapes, disks
and other electronic
storage materials.
The government organs, mentioned in these Provisions,
refer to the people' s governments at all levels of this Municipality and their
working departments, agencies and other organizations that exercise
administrative functions and powers according to law.
Article 3
(Principles)
Except those listed under Article 10 of these Provisions that
are exempt from being made known to the public according to law, all
government
information related to the economy, social administration, and public services
shall be made known to the public£¬or
made available upon applications.
The
making known to the public of government information shall follow the principle
of being timely and convenience-for-people.
Efficiency shall be increased in
work and quality services shall be provided.¡¡¡¡
Article 4 (Departments for
Organizing the Implementation)
This Municipality shall establish the system
of joint meetings of open government information. The Joint Meeting consists of
the
General Office of the Municipal People' s Government, the Municipal
Informationization Commission, the Municipal Supervision Commission,
the
Legislative Affairs Office of the Municipal People' s Government, the Information
Office of the Municipal People' s Government
and other relevant government
organs, and takes charge of the study and coordination of important issues
arising in the process
of promoting the making known of government information
to the public.
The Municipal Informationization Commission shall be
responsible for organizing, guiding and promoting the implementation of these
Provisions
The district (county) informationization commissions shall be
responsible for organizing, guiding and promoting the implementation
of these
Provisions in their respective administrative areas.
Article 5 (Responsible
Organs)
A government organ shall designate its special agency for handling
matters of open government information of this organ to take charge
of the
day-to-day work of the open government information in this organ. The specific
functions and duties of the agency include:
(1) To be responsible for matters
related to the making government information known to the public of this organ
on its own initiative;
(2) To accept and handle applications submitted to
this organ for open government information;
(3) To keep, maintain and update
or to urge the relevant agency of this organ to keep, maintain and update the
government information
of this organ;
(4) To organize the preparation of the
guide to the open government information of this organ, the catalogue of
government information
and the annual work report on the open government
information of this organ;
(5)Other functions and duties provided by laws,
rules and regulations.
Article 6 (Supervisory Departments)
The municipal
and district (county) supervisory departments and government legal affairs
departments shall be responsible for organizing
the supervision, inspection and
appraisal of the implementation of the open government information according to
their respective
functions and duties.
Chapter II Scope of Open
Government Information
Article 7 (The Right to Request to Make Information Known to the Public)
Citizens, legal entities and other organizations have the right to request,
on the basis of these Provisions, government organs to
provide them with
relevant government information.
Article 8 (The Scope of Government
Information to be Made Known to the Public on Initiative)
Government organs
shall, on their own initiative, make known to the general public the following
government information£º
(1) With respect to administrative norms and
development plans¡¡
1. Rules and regulations of the Municipal Government,
normative documents, and other documents related to the economy, social
administration
and public services formulated by various government
organs;¡¡¡¡
2. Programs and plans of economic and social development, their
progress and the status of their fulfillment;¡¡
3. Plannings, including city
overall plannings and other categories of city plannings, as well as overall
plannings of land use.
(2) With respect to major issues that are closely
related to the general public
1. The forecast, occurrence and handling of
epidemics, disasters or contingencies that affect the personal and property
safety of
the general public;
2. Standards and conditions with respect to
poverty alleviation, special care and preferential treatment, education, social
security,
labor and employment as well as their implementation;
3. Approval
documents, compensation standards and resettlement plans for land requisition,
housing demolition and relocation.¡¡¡¡
(3) With respect to the use and
supervision of public funds¡¡
1. Information on awards of the public tendering
procedure for major urban infrastructure projects, and the progress of the
projects;
2. Catalogues of items of centralized government procurement, the
standards for the ceiling of government procurement, the results
of the
procurement, and the supervision thereof;
3. Government financial budgets,
final accounts and actual expenditures, as well as the result of their
audits.
(4) With respect to government organizations and personnel
matters
1. The administrative functions of government working departments of
all levels and their adjustments and changes;
2. The recruitment, examination
and employment of civil servants and the conditions, procedures and results of
open selection and
appointment of cadres;
(5) Other government information
that shall be made known to the public according to laws, rules and
regulations.
Where laws and regulations provide otherwise on the limits of
power to make information known to the public over matters referred
to in the
preceding Clause, such provisions of laws and regulations shall prevail.
Article 9 (The Making Known of the Draft of Major Decisions to the
Public)
If the decisions to be made, the regulations to be formulated, or the
plans and programs to be drawn up by government organs involve
important
interests of citizens, legal entities and other organizations, or have major
social impact, the drafting organ or the
decision-making organs shall make them
known to the general public in the course of their formulation, and solicit
fully opinions
from the general public.
Article 10 (Scope of Government
Information Exempt from Being Made Known to the Public)
The following
government information is exempt from being made known to the public£º
(1)
Classified as State secrets;
(2) Classified as trade secrets or its being
made known to the public may lead to the disclosure of trade secrets;
(3)
Classified as private, or its being made known to the public may lead to
unwarranted violation of the right to privacy;¡¡¡¡
(4) Being under
investigation or discussion, or in the process of being handled, unless
otherwise provided by laws, rules and these
Provisions;¡¡
(5) Concerns
administrative law enforcement, and its being made known to the public may
affect the law enforcement activities such
as check-ups, investigations, and
collection of evidence, or may endanger the personal safety of life;¡¡
(6)
Other situations where exemption from being made known to the public is provided
by laws and regulations.
In case of the following situations, government
information listed in Items (2) and (3) of Clause 1 is not subject to the
restrictions
of exemption from being made known to the public:
(1) The owner
of the right or the parties concerned agree to its being made known to the
public;¡¡¡¡
(2) The benefits of making it known to the public outweigh the
detriment that may result;
(3) Its being made known to the public is
permitted by the provisions of laws and regulations.
Government organs may
decide to make known to the public government information listed in Items (4)
and (5) of Clause 1£¬ provided
its being made known to the public has obvious
benefits for the general public and will not cause substantial detriment.
Chapter III Procedures and Forms of Open Government Information
Article 11 (Application)
Citizens, legal entities and other organizations
that request the acquisition of government information in accordance with
Article
7 of these Provisions may apply to the government organs in possession
of the said government information by such means as letters,
telegrams, faxes
and Emails.¡¡
The application shall include the following contents:¡¡
(1)
The names, ID certificates and modes of contact of the citizens, legal entities
and other organizations;¡¡
(2) Descriptions of the contents of the government
information needed.
Government organs may provide the applicants with
standard application forms, which may not contain contents that are not directly
related to the application for open government information.
Article 12
(Reply)
Upon receiving the application, government organs shall make a
registration on the spot, and give a written reply in a timely manner,
depending
on the following circumstances:
(1) In case it falls within the scope of its
being made known to the public, the applicant shall be informed of the mode and
the
channel whereby the said government information may be acquired.
(2) In
case it falls within the scope of exemption from being made known to the public,
the applicant shall be informed that it
shall not be made known to the
public.¡¡
(3) In case it is outside the scope of information in the possession
of the handling organs, the applicant shall be so informed;
where it is possible
to identify the organ in possession of the said information, the applicant shall
be informed of the mode of
contact.
(4) In case the open government
information applied for does not exist, the applicant shall be so
informed.
(5) In case the contents of information applied for are not
definite, the applicant shall be told to modify or supplement the
application.
Article 13 (Partial Open)¡¡
If the requested provision of
government information contains contents that are exempt from being made known
to the public, but
can be separately handled, the government organ shall provide
those contents that can be made known to the public.
Article 14 (Handling
Information that Involves a Third Party)
If the requested provision of
government information is covered by Items (2) and (3) of Clause 1, Article 10,
of these Provisions
and may affect the rights and interests of a third party,
unless the third party has consented in writing to the government organ
its
being made known to the public, the government organ shall seek in writing the
opinion of the third party. Failure of the third
party to give a reply within
the required period shall be deemed as refusal of the provision.
Article 15
(Procedure for Acquiring and Correcting Information of Oneselves)
Citizens,
legal entities and other organizations, that request a government organ to
provide them with government information that
concerns themselves, such as
registration, tax payment and social security, shall present their valid ID
certificates and submit
in person their written applications to the government
organ. The written applications shall include the description of the contents
of
the government information needed, and shall be duly signed or sealed. The
government organ shall create conditions to facilitate
citizens, legal entities
and other organizations in submitting their applications to the government organ
via Internet by adopting
new technology for on-line identification.¡¡
When
identifying anything inaccurate, incomplete, inappropriate or irrelevant in the
record of the government information concerning
themselves, citizens, legal
entities and other organizations shall have the right to request the relevant
government organs to
make corrections thereof in a timely manner. If the
handling government organs do not have the authority to make such corrections,
they shall refer the matter to the competent organs for handling, and inform the
applicants thereof.¡¡
In case the State provide otherwise for the inquiry for
and provision of information concerning the citizens, legal entities and
other
organizations themselves, such provisions shall prevail.
Article 16
(Prohibited Acts)
The government information that shall not be made known to
the public or shall not be provided as stated in the reply of the government
organ to the applicants, shall not be provided in the form of paid services or
in a disguised form of paid services£¬nor may it
be provided to the citizens,
legal entities and other organizations through any enterprise, any institution
and any intermediary
organization affiliated to or operationally guided by the
government organ in the form of paid services or in a disguised form of
paid
services.
Article 17 (Specifying Reasons)
When replying to the applicant
in accordance with Article 12, Item (2), Article 13, Article 14 and Article 15
of these Provisions,
the government organ shall specify the reasons, and, where
the reply refuses to provide or correct the information, it shall specify
the
channel of relief as well.
Article 18 (Time Limit)
A government organ
shall provide a written reply to the applications of citizens, legal persons and
other organizations within 15
working days from the date of their registration,
except that the applications can be replied on the spot.
In providing
government information to the applicants in accordance with these Provisions,
the government organs shall provide it
on the spot after the applicant has gone
through the application formalities, where it is impossible to provide the
government
information on the spot, it shall be provided within 10 working days
after the applicant has gone the application formalities.¡¡
Where it is
impossible to give a reply or provide information within the prescribed time
limit for justifiable reasons, the time
limit for the reply or the provision of
information may be appropriately extended upon the approval of the person in
charge of
the open information agency of the government organ, and the applicant
shall be notified thereof in writing. The extension of the
time limit shall not
exceed 15 working days.
Article 19 (Suspension of the Time
Limit)
If it is possible to give a reply to the applicant or to provide the
government information to the applicant within the prescribed
time limit owing
to force majeure or other matters provided by law, the time limit shall suspend
till the removal of the obstacles
when the calculation of the time limit will be
resumed.
The government organ shall notify in writing the applicant of the
suspension and the resumption of the time limit in a timely manner.¡¡
Article
20 (Forms of Provision according to Application)¡¡
Where conditions permit, a
government organ that provides government information according to application
may arrange suitable time
and place for the applicant to read on the spot or
copy by themselves the government information. Upon the request of the
applicant,
the government organ may provide typing, printing and duplicating
services.¡¡¡¡
When the applicant chooses to acquire
duplicated copies of government information by post, courier delivery, faxes
or
emails, the government organ shall make the provision in the form as requested.
Where it is impossible to meet the request owing
to technical reasons, the
government organ may choose to make the provision in a form that conforms with
the characteristics of
the said government information.¡¡
Article 21 (Forms of
Making Information Known to the Public on Government' s Own
Initiative)
Government information that shall be made known to the public on
the government' s own initiative according to Article 8 of these
Provisions shall
be made known to the public in a timely manner and in the one or several of the
following forms that conform with
the characteristics of the said
information:¡¡
(1) Government bulletins or other newspapers or
magazines;
(2) Government websites on Internet;
(3) Government news
briefing, and public media such as broadcasting and TV; ¡¡
(4) Public
reference rooms, materials request points, government information bulletin
boards, e-display screens and other places
and facilities established in the
main office premises of a government organ;¡¡
(5) Other forms that provide the
public with convenient access to information in a timely and accurate
manner.
Information made known to the public by a government organ on its own
initiative shall be made available to the general public free
of charge.
Article 22 (Guides to the Open Government Information and the Catalogues of
Government Information)
All government organs shall draw up the guides to the
open government information of their own organs.
All government organs shall
draw up catalogues of open government information of their own organs that falls
within the scope of
being made known to the public on their own initiative. The
catalogues of government information shall contain the titles of the
government
information, brief descriptions of its basic contents and the dates of its
generation.¡¡
Government organs that have the necessary conditions may draw up
step by step the catalogues of government information of their own
organs that
falls within the scope of being made known to the public upon
application.
Government organs shall regularly update the guides to the open
government information of their own organs and the catalogues of
government
information within the scope of the information being made known to the public
on their own initiative, and make them
available to the general public to look
up through such channel as the government websites.
Article 23 (The
Making-known of Regulations and Normative Documents to the
Public)
Regulations and normative documents of the Municipal People' s
Government shall be made known to the public on the government websites
on
Internet within 30 days of their promulgation, and at the same time on the
bulletins of the Municipal People' s Government.
Other additional forms of making
them known to the public may be adopted.
Normative documents of other
government organs shall be made known to the public on the government websites
on the Internet within
30 days of their promulgation. At the same time, other
additional forms of making them known to the public may be adopted.
Article
24 (Distribution and Looking-up of Bulletins of the Municipal People' s
Government)
Bulletins of the Municipal People' s Government shall be delivered
to the designated newspaper stands, bookshops, post offices and
other free
distribution points in a timely manner so as to make them readily available to
the general public.
Bulletins of the Municipal People' s Government shall be
made available at appropriate places in district (county) government office
premises, the municipal and district (county) archives and public libraries for
the convenient and free access of the public.¡¡
Article 25 (The System of
Government Information Spokespersons)
The municipal and district (county)
governments shall establish and perfect the system of government information
spokespersons who
shall make government information known to the general public
on behalf of the governments of different levels respectively.
The
departments of the Municipal People' s Government shall establish the system of
government information spokespersons of their
own departments according to their
actual needs.¡¡
Article 26 (Establishment of Places for Public Consultation)
In accordance with the need of the provision of services for looking up
government information, government organs with the necessary
conditions shall
establish public consultation rooms or public consultation points equipped with
appropriate facilities so as to
provide conveniences for the general public in
retrieving, inquiring and duplicating relevant government information.
Article 27 (Charges)
When providing government information to citizens,
legal entities and other organizations upon application, government organs may
collect charges for costs and expenses actually incurred in connection with the
retrieval, duplicating, mailing and courier services.
The rates of charges shall
be uniformly established by the competent municipal financial and price control
departments, and all
the payments of charges received shall be turned in to the
finance.
Applicants who, according to relevant provisions of this
Municipality, belong to the low-income bracket may be exempted from the
payment
of such charges upon their personal application, subject to the examination,
verification and approval by the person in
charge of the open government
information agencies of the government organs.
Where laws and regulations
provide otherwise on the collection of charges, such provisions shall
prevail.
Article 28 (Guidance)
Government organs shall make known to the
general public the names, office addresses, office hours, contact telephone
numbers, fax
numbers and Email addresses of the agencies of their own organs in
charge of matters related to the open government information,
so as to provide
conveniences for citizens, legal entities and other organizations in seeking
advice on matters related to the
open government information.¡¡
Article 29
(Help)
The government organs shall provide the necessary help to handicapped
and illiterate applicants who have difficulties in reading.
Chapter IV Supervision and Relief
Article 30 (Annual Reports)
The Municipal Informationization Commission
shall issue an annual report on open government information in this Municipality
before
March 31 every year, and the annual report shall include the following
contents:
(1) Initiatives taken by government organs in making government
information known to the public;¡¡¡¡
(2) Statistics on applications by
citizens, legal entities and other organizations for open government
information;
(3) Statistics of the classification of cases where government
organs agree to make known to the public, to partially make known
to the public
and exemption from being made known to the public;
(4) Statistics of cases of
applications for reconsideration, lawsuit, and complaints filed in connection
with open government information,
and the results of their handling;
(5) The
major existing issues and schemes for their improvement;¡¡
(6) Other important
matters that shall be reported.¡¡
Article 31 (Legal Liability)
Any
government organ that violates these Provisions under any of the following
circumstances shall be ordered by the Municipal Informationization
Commission to
make corrections; in serious cases, the supervisory departments or the competent
administrative department may impose
administrative disciplinary punishment
according to law on the chief person in charge held directly liable and other
liable personnel:¡¡
(1) Failure to perform the obligations to make known to
the public on their initiative or update in a timely manner the contents
made
known to the public on its own initiative;¡¡
(2) Failure to provide or update
in a timely manner the guide to the work process and the catalogue of government
information of
its own organ;
(3) Concealing from or refusing to provide to
the applicants that meet the prescribed conditions the government information
that
shall be made known to the public;
(4) Failure to perform its
obligation to inform, resulting in the infringement of the legitimate rights and
interests of a third
party;¡¡¡¡
(5) Refusal to correct the personal information
concerning the applicant according to law;¡¡¡¡
(6) Collection of charges in
violation of regulations.
Article 32 (Ways of Relief)
If citizens, legal
entities and other organizations believe that a government organ fails to
perform their obligations according
to law in connection with the open
government information, they may file complaints with the supervisory organ or
the government
organ at a higher level. The organ that receives such complaints
shall investigate and handle such complaints.¡¡¡¡
In case citizens, legal
entities and other organizations believe that the specific administrative acts
of government organs are
in violation of these Provisions and infringe their
legitimate rights and interests, they may apply for administrative
reconsideration
in accordance with law, and, in case that they do not agree with
the decisions of the administrative reconsideration, may file administrative
actions according to law. Citizens, legal entities and other organizations may
also directly file administrative actions with the
people' s courts in accordance
with law.
Article 33 (Compensations)
In case the specific administrative
acts of a government organ that is in violation of these Provisions cause
economic losses to
the applicants or third parties, the applicants or the third
parties may claim compensations in accordance with law.
Chapter
V Supplementary Provisions
Article 34 (Guarantee of Funds)
Government organs shall bring the funds
for the open government information into their annual budget so as to ensure the
normal
conduct of the activities related to the open government information.
Article 35 (Handling of Normative Documents that have not been Made Known to
the Public)
Valid normative documents of government organs that shall be made
known to the public under these Provisions, but were not made known
to the
public according to law before the implementation of these Provisions, shall be
made known to the public on the government
website on the Internet within 6
months from the date of the implementation of these Provisions, and at the same
time they may
also be made known to the public in other appropriate
forms.
Article 36 (Time Limit for the Preparation and Making Known to the
Public of Guides and Catalogues)
Within six months from the date of the
implementation of these Provisions, all government organs shall, in accordance
with the provisions
of Article 22 of these Provisions, prepare and make known to
the public the guides of their own organs to the open government information
and
the catalogue of government information that shall be made known to the public
on their own initiative.
Article 37 (Detailed Rules of
Implementation)
Government organs may formulate detailed implementation rules
suitable to their own organs in accordance with these Provisions.
Article 38
(Effective Date)
Theses Provisions shall become effective on May 1, 2004.
