However, movies and court dramas have given many people the wrong impression. Contrary to popular belief, judges do not use hammers too often. They are more likely to use their voice to calm a room. This little hammer is called a hammer. It is usually made of wood and paired with a base on which it can be hit. Why do judges use a hammer? To maintain order in the courtroom, of course! After all, emotions can run high during a process. If the hammer comes out, it is because the judge asks that things calm down. Hammers are a feature of U.S. courts: they do not exist in courtrooms in the United Kingdom or Commonwealth countries (e.g., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.); Link to the British judiciary, but also in Wikipedia articles on Canadian courts). Doing some brief research (a few hours), the best guess I could find about the origin of the hammer came from a 2009 paper by the president of the American Historical Association.
Their view is that it could be Masonic, but this is somewhat based on conjecture (supported by this LAWLIB Listserv post of February 17, 2000). The ceremonial hammer is called a hammer and usually looks like this: a legal adviser who fails to agree to a decision on a complaint from time to time will continue with the horrific series of investigations to test the judge`s determination in his decision. At first, there will be a verbal admonition; at that point, if legal counsel continues, either a second increasingly brutal verbal admonition or the use of the hammer; And if the lawyer continues, the judge will use the hammer, with a real risk of closing his immediate questioning or even contempt of court. Some judges are undoubtedly becoming more and more tolerant in this way; Some are not patient at all! I think the traditional gavel in court proceedings, some parliamentary procedures and other official sessions is here to stay. I guess a hammer shape was already used in ancient times. I can see how the Romans used one to bring order to a meeting or meeting and to create order in case of chaos. It is used both in the courts and in public sessions (mainly city council meetings or committee meetings of the legislature, but also, for example, in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives) for the functional purpose of getting people`s attention and telling them to shut up without having to whistle or shout shrill cries. Both would be less worthy.
We pulled straws to see who could be judged that day. We all loved being judges, especially because we liked to hit the hammer. We used it like in real life to start and end a trial and bring order to a chaotic courtroom. It is strange that something so simple and relatively harmless can provoke the obedience of a large group of people. Personally, I tense up when a hammer is struck in a courtroom, and the sound fills me with fear and terror. My grandfather was a judge and I have the hammer he used for most of his career. He must have beaten him at least a thousand times. Apart from the rule of law, the gavel is also used in less formal meetings.
The most common is an auction. The hammer hammered by an auctioneer indicates the final sale of an advertised object. Many private organizations with governing bodies also use the gavel in the same way as a parliament. Don`t worry, we`re kidding – everyone knows Wonderopolis is anything but neat. But if this opening sounds familiar, imagine a judge banging a small hammer on a piece of wood and shouting, “Command the court!” The hammer is such a recognizable symbol that even children incorporate it into their playtime. When I was eight years old, my friends and I organized show trials, and we used a homemade hammer. @nextcorrea – Your contribution is directly related to a question I was asking. The gavel is therefore a feature of Western court cases, particularly in Britain and the United States. But do they use a hammer alternative in Asian or Latin American dishes? During a trial or other legal proceeding, a judge will use a hammer to open and adjourn the court. For example, although a judge can only declare a ten-minute break for a jury trial, he still strikes the gavel to indicate that the court is temporarily adjourned. The judge uses it again at the end of the break to indicate that the court is sitting again. Once the jury has rendered its verdict, the judge strikes the hammer one last time to indicate that the trial is over.
In addition to these official uses, it is a handy tool for bringing order to a messy courtroom. Judges are not the only ones using hammers. They are common in governments, large and small, where they are used to bring order to the often unruly spaces where government takes place. But they are also a sign of who is responsible. The practice of transferring control from one party or person to another is done by “passing the hammer”. It is a big problem when the outgoing Speaker of the House hands the gavel to the new Speaker. Sometimes it seems that the transfer will not take place – a hammer is the ultimate sign of authority and power. A wooden hammer that a judge bangs on his desk when he tries to put the court in order? In many films featuring a court scene, the judge hits a mallet on the work area to calm the court or make a choice. @yseult – To add to your comment, I think that more than utilitarian and symbolic objectives, the hammer also deserves respect.