WordNet
n. a parliamentary committee appointed for some special purpose
Wikipedia
A select committee is a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues originating in the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Select committees exist in the British Parliament, as well as in other parliaments based on the Westminster model, such as those in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and New Zealand.
It is a special subcommittee of a legislature or assembly governed under a committee system, like Robert's Rules of Order. They are often investigative in nature, collecting data or evidence for a law or problem, and will dissolve immediately after they report their findings to their superiors.
These are very common in government legislatures, and are used to solve special problems, hence their name.
Usage examples of "select committee".
House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Report, Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001, 106th Cong.
I had to report the operations to the Select Committee, but I didn't want to rip the government apart.
Judge Burkett's subtle signal is suspiciously reminiscent of the 1976 House Select Committee on Assassinations investigation of the Kennedy assassination, which admitted that the evidence led to a probable conspiracy.
He is also the only member of the Select Committee with after-hours personal access to John Dean.
Heading the Select Committee was more than a job, it was fun, real fun to be one of the few people who were really in the know.
Donaldson was the chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence.
He sat and politely fielded the questions of the select committee, smiling with maddening courtesy throughout the questioning, speaking as comfortably as if he was conversing with guests over a dinner table.
Wellington riffled through the papers and found a letter signed by Alan Trent and Sam Fellows of the House Select Committee.
What if a member of the Select Committee asked him a question that he had to answer?
Report of a Select Committee [ut supra], 1838: Evidence of the Very Rev.
On 2 July 1979 I received a letter calling me to testify July 19th before a joint session of the House Select Committee on Aging (Honorable Claude Pepper, M.