A significant increase in the number of FOI lawsuits in Shanghai

The number of administrative reconsideration and lawsuits has increased significantly during the last five years. In 2008, 683 applications were made for administrative reconsideration of agency decisions on access requests, 100 more than the total figure of the last four years (2004-2007). There were 258 applications for court review of decisions concerning access requests, 1.5 times as many as the total number of the previous four years (2004-2007). The number of complaints about FOI matters received by government agencies administering FOI work was not available in the 2008 report. However, previous reports indicated that this number should be much higher than that of last year. The 2008’s annual report also showed that government agencies spent 57.5 thousand yuan (about $84 thousand) on litigation. The improvement of public awareness of FOI legislation may have contributed to this significant increase.