What is "joint session"

Joint \Joint\ (joint), a. [F., p. p. of joindre. See Join.]

1. Joined; united; combined; concerted; as, joint action.

2. Involving the united activity of two or more; done or produced by two or more working together.

   I read this joint effusion twice over.
   --T. Hook.

3. United, joined, or sharing with another or with others; not solitary in interest or action; holding in common with an associate, or with associates; acting together; as, joint heir; joint creditor; a joint bank account; joint debtor, etc. ``Joint tenants of the world.''
   --Donne.

4. Shared by, or affecting two or more; held in common; as, joint property; a joint bond.

   A joint burden laid upon us all.
   --Shak.

   Joint committee (Parliamentary Practice), a committee composed of members of the two houses of a legislative body, for the appointment of which concurrent resolutions of the two houses are necessary.
   --Cushing.

   Joint meeting, or Joint session, the meeting or session of two distinct bodies as one; as, a joint meeting of committees representing different corporations; a joint session of both branches of a State legislature to chose a United States senator. ``Such joint meeting shall not be dissolved until the electoral votes are all counted and the result declared.''
   --Joint Rules of Congress, U. S.

   Joint resolution (Parliamentary Practice), a resolution adopted concurrently by the two branches of a legislative body. ``By the constitution of the United States and the rules of the two houses, no absolute distinction is made between bills and joint resolutions.''
   --Barclay (Digest).

   Joint rule (Parliamentary Practice), a rule of proceeding adopted by the concurrent action of both branches of a legislative assembly. ``Resolved, by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), that the sixteenth and seventeenth joint rules be suspended for the remainder of the session.''
   --Journal H. of R., U. S.

   Joint and several (Law), a phrase signifying that the debt, credit, obligation, etc., to which it is applied is held in such a way that the parties in interest are engaged both together and individually thus a joint and several debt is one for which all the debtors may be sued together or either of them individually; used especially in the phrase joint and several liability.

   Joint stock, stock held in company.

   Joint-stock company (Law), a species of partnership, consisting generally of a large number of members, having a capital divided, or agreed to be divided, into shares, the shares owned by any member being usually transferable without the consent of the rest.

   Joint tenancy (Law), a tenure by two or more persons of estate by unity of interest, title, time, and possession, under which the survivor takes the whole.
   --Blackstone.

   Joint tenant (Law), one who holds an estate by joint tenancy. Contrassted with tenant in common.

A joint session or joint convention is, most broadly, when two normally separate decision-making groups meet together, often in a special session or other extraordinary meeting, for a specific purpose.

Most often it refers to when both houses of a bicameral legislature sit together. 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/ chamber they belong to. For example, in Switzerland a joint session of the two houses elects the members of the Federal Council (cabinet). In India, disputes between Houses are resolved by a joint sitting but without an intervening election.