Committee of the whole

A committee of the whole is a meeting of a legislative or deliberative assembly using procedural rules that are based on those of a committee, except that in this case the committee includes all members of the assembly. As with other (standing) committees, the activities of a committee of the whole are limited to considering and making recommendations on matters that the assembly has referred to it; it cannot take up other matters or vote directly on the assembly's business. The purpose of a committee of the whole is to relax the usual limits on debate, allowing a more open exchange of views without the urgency of a final vote. Debates in a committee of the whole may be recorded but are often excluded from the assembly's minutes. After debating, the committee submits its conclusions to the assembly (that is, to itself) and business continues according to the normal rules.

In legislative assemblies in the Commonwealth of Nations, the committee stage of important bills is typically conducted by the committee of the whole, whereas lesser bills may be considered in smaller committees. Outside the Commonwealth (for example, in continental European parliaments), the practice of committees of the whole does not exist - meetings of the entire membership are held according to the plenary sitting's rules, and the section-by-section vote on bills occurs in the plenum of the chamber.