A joint session typically occurs to receive foreign or domestic diplomats or leaders, or to allow both houses to consider bills together.
Some constitutions give special power to a joint session, voting by majority of all members of the legislature regardless of which house or chamber they belong to.
The Federal Assembly is a formal joint session of the two houses of the bicameral Austrian Parliament, to swear the elected President of Austria into office.
The Canadian government procedure is called a joint address, with the members of the House of Commons attending the Senate as guests.
The Congress of France is an assembly of both houses of the French Parliament, convened at the Palace of Versailles, which can approve certain amendments to the constitution by a three-fifths majority of all members.
In the Philippines, Congress can convene in a joint session for the following: While the State of the Nation Address takes place annually, and presidential elections occur every six years, the only instances when the other two conditions were met post the approval of the 1987 constitution were following the declaration of martial law in Maguindanao after the Maguindanao massacre in 2009, and in Mindanao after the Marawi crisis in 2017 and 2018.
[5] Joint sessions are typically held at the seat of the House of Representatives, which is at the Batasang Pambansa Complex, Quezon City.
[6] Since 1939, foreign heads of state and dignitaries have been invited to address both houses of Parliament, the first to do so was French President Albert Lebrun in March 1939.