Letter of No Objections between 28 June 2020 until today.
Dear Hong Kong Police Force Operations Wing,
As a journalist at Hong Kong Free Press, hongkongfp.com/about, I am writing to request information under the Hong Kong Code on Access to Information.
I would like to request a breakdown of information relating to the "Letters of No Objection" (LONO) issued by the Hong Kong Police Force between June 28, 2020, and the present/most recent day. I would appreciate it if the breakdown could include the following details:
Name/Organisation of the LONO applicant.
Date of the event requested.
Route/Place of the event.
Nature of the event.
Purpose of the event.
This information is requested for the purposes of journalistic inquiry following assertions by the Force that the city has continued to issue LONOs over the past five years.
Under the Hong Kong Code on Access to Information, I kindly request a response within 21 calendar days. If additional time is required due to the complexity of the request, I would appreciate being notified promptly with an explanation.
If any part of this request requires clarification or if the information cannot be provided in full, I would appreciate advice on how to refine or amend the request. Additionally, if certain parts of the information are exempt from disclosure, I request a written explanation of the relevant exemption(s) and justification.
Thank you for your attention. I look forward to your reply. Should you have any questions or require further details, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Dear Sir / Madam,
Your email dated 2025-07-03 requesting for the figures and detailed
breakdown in relation to ‘letters of no objection’ on public order events
was received and referred to this office for processing.
In brief, you requested for the following information between 2020-06-28
and the most recent day: -
(1) Number of letters of no objection issued;
(2) Name / Organisation of the public order events issued with
letters of no objection;
(3) Date of the public order events issued with letters of no
objection;
(4) Nature of the public order events issued with letters of no
objection;
(5) Purpose of the public order events issued with letters of no
objection.
Regarding your request (1), I would like to inform you that we do not
maintain the daily number of letters of no objection issued. Besides, for
your requests (2) to (5), while there were over 900 letters of no
objection issued during the requested period, providing a daily breakdown
would require an unreasonable diversion of our department’s resources.
Therefore, we are unable to provide this information under reasonable
circumstances.
We do, however, maintain the monthly figures for the letters of no
objection issued between June 2020 and June 2025 with the monthly
breakdown by its nature (i.e. Public Meeting or Public Procession). In
such case, would you like to amend your request to have the monthly figure
of letters of no objection issued with the breakdown by its nature
instead?
As this office takes time to process your application, we wish to hear
from you by 7th July 2025 (next Monday). Should you have any inquiry,
please feel free to contact us at 2860 6551. Thank you.
Best regards,
YAN Hou-yin
Senior Inspector of Police (Licensing)
Police Licensing Office
*** This e-mail message (together with any attachments) is for the
designated recipient only. It may contain information that is privileged.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any
use, retention, disclosure, copying, printing, forwarding or dissemination
of the message is strictly prohibited. If you have received the message in
error, please erase all copies of the message (including attachments) from
your system and notify the sender immediately. ***
*** 此電郵訊息(連同任何附件)只發送給指定收件人。訊息可能包含享有特權資料。
謹此通知，如你並非預定收件人，嚴禁使用、保留、披露、複製、列印、轉發或發布
此訊息。如收到誤發的訊息，請把訊息的所有副本(包括附件)從系統內清除，並立即
通知發件人。***
----- Forwarded by ip-sip-licensing-7/LICENSING/STATION/POLICE/HKSARG on
2025/07/04 16:49 -----
"Tom Grundy" To: "FOI requests at Hong
<[FOI #23 email]> Kong Police Force
Operations Wing"
<[Hong Kong Police Force Operations Wing request email]>
2025/07/03 下午 02:30 Cc:
Subject: Freedom of Information
request - Letter of No
Reference: Objections between 28
June 2020 until today.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Dear Hong Kong Police Force Operations Wing,
As a journalist at Hong Kong Free Press, hongkongfp.com/about, I am
writing to request information under the Hong Kong Code on Access to
Information.
I would like to request a breakdown of information relating to the
"Letters of No Objection" (LONO) issued by the Hong Kong Police Force
between June 28, 2020, and the present/most recent day. I would appreciate
it if the breakdown could include the following details:
Name/Organisation of the LONO applicant.
Date of the event requested.
Route/Place of the event.
Nature of the event.
Purpose of the event.
This information is requested for the purposes of journalistic inquiry
following assertions by the Force that the city has continued to issue
LONOs over the past five years.
Under the Hong Kong Code on Access to Information, I kindly request a
response within 21 calendar days. If additional time is required due to
the complexity of the request, I would appreciate being notified promptly
with an explanation.
If any part of this request requires clarification or if the information
cannot be provided in full, I would appreciate advice on how to refine or
amend the request. Additionally, if certain parts of the information are
exempt from disclosure, I request a written explanation of the relevant
exemption(s) and justification.
Thank you for your attention. I look forward to your reply. Should you
have any questions or require further details, please do not hesitate to
contact me.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a request under the Code of Access to Information facilitated via
the Alaveteli website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #23 email]
Is [Hong Kong Police Force Operations Wing request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Hong Kong Police Force Operations Wing? If so, please contact
us using this form:
[1]https://atihk.civicsight.org/change_requ...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
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-------------------------------------------------------------------
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Dear Hong Kong Police Force Operations Wing,
Thank you Mr Yan. Monthly would be fine - however, for this data to be useful, we would hope to see the Name / Organisation of the LONO applicant and "Purpose of the public order event," not just its nature.
If this is possible, please proceed. Thank you for your time.
Yours sincerely,
Tom Grundy
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your reply.
As Police do not maintain the data for "Name / Organisation" and "Purpose"
for the public order events and there were over 900 letters of no
objection issued during the requested period, providing such information
would require an unreasonable diversion of our department’s resources.
Such data request may not be acceded for the reason set out in para
2.9(d) of the Code on Access to Information.
In such situation, would you still consider to amend request for only
having the monthly figure of letters of no objection issued, together with
the breakdown by its nature .
Thank you.
Best regards,
YAN Hou-yin, Yuki
Senior Inspector of Police (Licensing)
Police Licensing Office
Hong Kong Police Force
*** This e-mail message (together with any attachments) is for the
designated recipient only. It may contain information that is privileged.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any
use, retention, disclosure, copying, printing, forwarding or dissemination
of the message is strictly prohibited. If you have received the message in
error, please erase all copies of the message (including attachments) from
your system and notify the sender immediately. ***
*** 此電郵訊息(連同任何附件)只發送給指定收件人。訊息可能包含享有特權資料。
謹此通知，如你並非預定收件人，嚴禁使用、保留、披露、複製、列印、轉發或發布
此訊息。如收到誤發的訊息，請把訊息的所有副本(包括附件)從系統內清除，並立即
通知發件人。***
"Tom Grundy" To: "FOI requests at Hong
<[FOI #23 email]> Kong Police Force
Operations Wing"
<[Hong Kong Police Force Operations Wing request email]>
2025/07/04 17:14 Cc:
Subject: Re: Freedom of
Information request -
Reference: Letter of No Objections
between 28 June 2020
until today.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Dear Hong Kong Police Force Operations Wing,
Thank you Mr Yan. Monthly would be fine - however, for this data to be
useful, we would hope to see the Name / Organisation of the LONO applicant
and "Purpose of the public order event," not just its nature.
If this is possible, please proceed. Thank you for your time.
Yours sincerely,
Tom Grundy
-----Original Message-----
Dear Sir / Madam,
Your email dated 2025-07-03 requesting for the figures and detailed
breakdown in relation to ‘letters of no objection’ on public order events
was received and referred to this office for processing.
In brief, you requested for the following information between 2020-06-28
and the most recent day: -
(1) Number of letters of no objection issued;
(2) Name / Organisation of the public order events issued with
letters of no objection;
(3) Date of the public order events issued with letters of no
objection;
(4) Nature of the public order events issued with letters of no
objection;
(5) Purpose of the public order events issued with letters of no
objection.
Regarding your request (1), I would like to inform you that we do not
maintain the daily number of letters of no objection issued. Besides, for
your requests (2) to (5), while there were over 900 letters of no
objection issued during the requested period, providing a daily breakdown
would require an unreasonable diversion of our department’s resources.
Therefore, we are unable to provide this information under reasonable
circumstances.
We do, however, maintain the monthly figures for the letters of no
objection issued between June 2020 and June 2025 with the monthly
breakdown by its nature (i.e. Public Meeting or Public Procession). In
such case, would you like to amend your request to have the monthly figure
of letters of no objection issued with the breakdown by its nature
instead?
As this office takes time to process your application, we wish to hear
from you by 7th July 2025 (next Monday). Should you have any inquiry,
please feel free to contact us at 2860 6551. Thank you.
Best regards,
YAN Hou-yin
Senior Inspector of Police (Licensing)
Police Licensing Office
*** This e-mail message (together with any attachments) is for the
designated recipient only. It may contain information that is privileged.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any
use, retention, disclosure, copying, printing, forwarding or dissemination
of the message is strictly prohibited. If you have received the message in
error, please erase all copies of the message (including attachments) from
your system and notify the sender immediately. ***
*** 此電郵訊息(連同任何附件)只發送給指定收件人。訊息可能包含享有特權資料。
謹此通知，如你並非預定收件人，嚴禁使用、保留、披露、複製、列印、轉發或發布
此訊息。如收到誤發的訊息，請把訊息的所有副本(包括附件)從系統內清除，並立即
通知發件人。***
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #23 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[1]https://atihk.civicsight.org/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Visible links
1. https://atihk.civicsight.org/help/officers
Dear Hong Kong Police Force Operations Wing,
Thank you, but that data would be incomplete, so there is no need to supply it. Thank you.
Best,
Tom Grundy
Dear Sir
Your email dated 2025-07-04 1756 hours refers. As your data request has
been withdrawn, it will not be processed by our office.
Should you have other data request in the future, you may submit a new
written request to the Police.
Thank you.
Best regards,
YAN Hou-yin, Yuki
Senior Inspector of Police (Licensing)
Police Licensing Office
Hong Kong Police Force
*** This e-mail message (together with any attachments) is for the
designated recipient only. It may contain information that is privileged.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any
use, retention, disclosure, copying, printing, forwarding or dissemination
of the message is strictly prohibited. If you have received the message in
error, please erase all copies of the message (including attachments) from
your system and notify the sender immediately. ***
*** 此電郵訊息(連同任何附件)只發送給指定收件人。訊息可能包含享有特權資料。
謹此通知，如你並非預定收件人，嚴禁使用、保留、披露、複製、列印、轉發或發布
此訊息。如收到誤發的訊息，請把訊息的所有副本(包括附件)從系統內清除，並立即
通知發件人。***
"Tom Grundy" To: "FOI requests at Hong
<[FOI #23 email]> Kong Police Force
Operations Wing"
<[Hong Kong Police Force Operations Wing request email]>
2025/07/04 17:56 Cc:
Subject: Re: Freedom of
Information request -
Reference: Letter of No Objections
between 28 June 2020
until today.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Dear Hong Kong Police Force Operations Wing,
Thank you, but that data would be incomplete, so there is no need to
supply it. Thank you.
Best,
Tom Grundy
-----Original Message-----
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your reply.
As Police do not maintain the data for "Name / Organisation" and "Purpose"
for the public order events and there were over 900 letters of no
objection issued during the requested period, providing such information
would require an unreasonable diversion of our department’s resources.
Such data request may not be acceded for the reason set out in para
2.9(d) of the Code on Access to Information.
In such situation, would you still consider to amend request for only
having the monthly figure of letters of no objection issued, together with
the breakdown by its nature .
Thank you.
Best regards,
YAN Hou-yin, Yuki
Senior Inspector of Police (Licensing)
Police Licensing Office
Hong Kong Police Force
*** This e-mail message (together with any attachments) is for the
designated recipient only. It may contain information that is privileged.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any
use, retention, disclosure, copying, printing, forwarding or dissemination
of the message is strictly prohibited. If you have received the message in
error, please erase all copies of the message (including attachments) from
your system and notify the sender immediately. ***
*** 此電郵訊息(連同任何附件)只發送給指定收件人。訊息可能包含享有特權資料。
謹此通知，如你並非預定收件人，嚴禁使用、保留、披露、複製、列印、轉發或發布
此訊息。如收到誤發的訊息，請把訊息的所有副本(包括附件)從系統內清除，並立即
通知發件人。***
"Tom Grundy" To: "FOI requests at Hong
<[FOI #23 email]> Kong Police Force
Operations Wing"
<[Hong Kong Police Force Operations Wing request email]>
2025/07/04 17:14 Cc:
Subject: Re: Freedom of
Information request -
Reference: Letter of No Objections
between 28 June 2020
until today.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Dear Hong Kong Police Force Operations Wing,
Thank you Mr Yan. Monthly would be fine - however, for this data to be
useful, we would hope to see the Name / Organisation of the LONO applicant
and "Purpose of the public order event," not just its nature.
If this is possible, please proceed. Thank you for your time.
Yours sincerely,
Tom Grundy
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #23 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[1]https://atihk.civicsight.org/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Visible links
1. https://atihk.civicsight.org/help/officers
