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Committees
The enormous volume of work before a Legislature and the limited
time at its disposal make it impossible that every matter should
be discussed at length on the Floor of the House. If the work
is to be done expeditiously and with reasonable care, some of
its responsibilities have to be entrusted to some other agency
in which the whole House has confidence. The most practical
method so far devised for this purpose is the Committee System,
composed of a small number of members of the legislative body.
In all the Parliaments and in US Congress, the formation of
Committees for detailed preliminary discussion of all important
matters, specially of legislative projects, has been an established
practice.
The Committee System in Sri Lanka is based on its mother Parliament,
the House of Commons. From its inception, the Sri Lanka Parliament
too has employed a number of committees to relieve Parliament
from the heavy burden of its work and to transact on its behalf
a great deal of its business.
The power to appoint committees has been recognized under Article
74 of the Constitution which empowers the Parliament to make
Standing Orders for regulating, subject to the provisions of
the Constitution, its business, the preservation of order at
its sittings and any other matter for which provision is required
or authorized to be so made by the Constitution. Under this
Article, when framing the Standing Orders of the Sri Lanka Parliament,
taking advantage of the experiences elsewhere, provision has
been made in the Standing Orders for the appointment of various
Parliamentary Committees.
Types of Committees
The Committees of Sri Lanka Parliament can be classified into
two broad categories. They are Standing Committees and Ad-hoc
Committees. The Standing Committees are appointed by the Speaker
in pursuance of the Standing Orders and continue to remain in
office irrespective of the completion of their business. There
is a little permanence in their tenure. They deal with specific
business of the House. The Ad-hoc Committees are mostly temporary
and cease to exist after completion of their work. These Committees
perform such specific functions as are assigned to them from
time to time. They may also be called Select Committees.
According to the Standing Orders, the Sri Lanka Parliament,
apart from the Committee of whole Parliament, has four types
of Committees:
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Select Committees |
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Consultative Committees |
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Standing Committees |
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Committees for Special Purposes |
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