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A 'Committee of the Whole' is a device in which a legislative body is considered one large committee. All members of the legislative body are members of such a committee. This is usually done for the purposes of discussion and debate of the detail of bills before the parliament.

Contents

Canada

Hong Kong

United Kingdom

United States

References

Reading

Canada

In The House of Commons, a Committee of the Whole is when all the MPs sit in the chamber in one large committee. It is chaired by the deputy speaker or the deputy chair of committees. It uses committee rules rather than House procedures. In the past, the committee of the whole has considered a majority of bills, with few bills being sent to parliamentary committees. The increased workload of MPs has led to a decline in this use of the Committee of the Whole. Now the Committee of the Whole is used mostly for monetary bills and on rare occasions to expedite the passage of other legislation.^[1]

Hong Kong

In the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, when the debate of the second reading resumes, members debate the general merits and priciples of the bill. At the committee stage, the Legislative Council becomes 'a Committee of the whole Council' and goes through the bill clause by clause, making amendments where necessary. After the bill has passed through Committee with or without amendments, it proceeds to the third reading for passage by the Council.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom House of Commons, the Committee of the Whole House is used instead of a standing committee for the clause-by-clause debate of important or contentious bills. The sitting is presided over by the Chairman of Ways and Means, rather than the Speaker of the House.
In the United Kingdom House of Lords, the Committee of the Whole House examines the majority of bills.

United States

Main articles: Committee of the Whole (United States House of Representatives)

In the United States House of Representatives, the Committee of the Whole is a device in which the House of Representatives is considered one large Congressional committee. The presiding officer is chosen by the Speaker of the House and is normally a member of the majority party who does not hold the chair of a standing committee.
The United States Senate used the Committee of the Whole as a parliamentary device for 197 years from the 1st Congress in 1789 and ceased using it in 1986 during the 99th Congress.

References

1. Jackson and Jackson, ''Politics in Canada'', p. 320

Reading

J.R. Odgers, ''Australian Senate Practice'' (11th edition), Department of the Senate, Canberra, Chapter 14.