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Chapter 12 - Legislation
Recommittal on report
The Senate may
recommit a bill to a committee of the whole, that is, refer it back to the
committee for further consideration.
When the motion
for the adoption of the report of the committee of the whole is moved, a
superseding motion may be moved that the whole or part of the bill be
recommitted (SO 121). The motion for the recommittal of a
bill may set out the particular clauses or matters in relation to the bill
which the committee is to consider (15/8/1974, J.166; 15/6/1989, J.1895-6). The recommittal motion may
be debated and relevantly amended. A bill may be recommitted more than once (26/2/1932,
J.19-20, 23).
A senator who
has unsuccessfully moved a motion for the recommittal of a bill and a senator
who has spoken to it may speak again to the motion for the adoption of the
report of the committee (ruling of President
Gould, SD, 1/10/1909, p. 4022).
The Senate, under this procedure, could
recommit to the committee of the whole a bill which has been negatived in
committee. On the principle that the committee of the whole is a subordinate
body, the Senate may instruct the committee to reconsider a bill which the
committee has, in effect, rejected. It may be argued, contrary to this
conclusion, that if a committee of the whole, which after all has the same
membership as the whole Senate, has taken the significant step of rejecting a
bill, the bill should not be revived except by motion on notice, as with a bill
rejected at the second reading. On the third of the occasions referred to above
when a bill was negatived in committee, it was referred back to the committee
only by a special motion moved pursuant to a suspension of standing orders.
This was done, however, partly because the report of the committee of the whole
had already been adopted. As was indicated above this question should not arise
because it is not logical for a bill to be rejected in committee of the whole.
A bill may also
be recommitted on the motion for the third reading (see below).
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