 Wooden gavel | |
| Classification | Ceremonial mallet |
|---|---|
| Used with | Sound block |
Agavel is a small ceremonialmallet/hammer commonly made ofhardwood, typically fashioned with a handle. It can be used to call for attention or to punctuate rulings and proclamations and is a symbol of the authority and right to act officially in the capacity of a presiding officer.[1] It is often struck against asound block, a striking surface typically also made of hardwood, to enhance its sounding qualities. It is primarily used in liveauctions.
According to tradition, Vice President of the United StatesJohn Adams used a gavel as a call to order in the firstU.S. Senate in New York in 1789. Since then, it has remained customary to tap the gavel against a lectern or desk to indicate the opening and closing of proceedings and, in theUnited States, to indicate that a judge's decision is final. Usage differs between cultures, but it is also generally used to keep the meeting itself calm and orderly.
Inmedieval England, the wordgavel could refer to a tribute or rent payment made with something other than cash.[2] These agreements were set in English land-court with the sound of agavel, a word which may come from theOld Englishgafol (meaning "tribute").[2]Gavel would be prefixed to any non-monetary payment given to a lord (for example:gavel-malt) and can be found as a prefix to other terms such asgavelkind, a system ofpartible inheritance formerly found in parts of the UK and Ireland. Agavel may also have referred to a kind of mason's tool, a setting maul that came into use as a way to maintain order in meetings.[2]
A gavel is primarily used in liveauctions and dates back to the 17th century. It is traditionally used by the auctioneer to announce the end of bidding on an item. The sound of the gavel striking the auction block signals the acceptance of the highest bid and the sale of the item.[3][4]
A gavel may be used inmeetings of adeliberative assembly. According toRobert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, the gavel may be used to signify arecess or anadjournment.[5][6] It may also be used to signify when a member makes a slight breach of the rules.[7]
Demeter's Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure states that, in addition to an optional light tap after a vote, there are three other uses of a gavel:[1]
Improper uses include banging the gavel in an attempt to drown out a disorderly member.[7] In this situation, the chair should give one vigorous tap at a time at intervals.[1] Also, the chair should not lean on the gavel, juggle or toy with it, or use it to challenge or threaten or to emphasize remarks.[1]
The chair should not be "gaveling through" a measure by cutting off members and quickly putting a question to a vote before any member can get the floor (in this connection, the chair should not use the gavel to improperly signify the end of consideration of a question).[8] The expressionpassing the gavel signifies an orderly succession from onechair to another.
In addition to the use above during business meetings, organizations may use the gavel during their ceremonies and may specify the number of taps of the gavel corresponding to different actions.[9][10]
The gavel is sometimes used incourts of law andcourts of equity in the United States and, bymetonymy, is used there to represent the entirejudiciary system, especially ofjudgeship. On the other hand, in theCommonwealth of Nations, including the United Kingdom, andIreland, gavels have never been used by judges, despite many American-influenced TV programs depicting them.[11][12][13] An exception is theInner London Crown Court, whereclerks use a gavel to alert parties in court of the entrance of the judge into the courtroom, as opposed to the usual practice of the judge knocking on the door before entering.[14][15] Gavels are also used for judicial purposes in some other countries. InPoland, they were originally used in the courts of theSecond Republic, a practice which was inherited from courts of partitioned Poland. Their use ceased after theSecond World War, but they were returned to courts in 2008, as an optional addition to a courtroom.[16]
Theunique gavel of the United States Senate has an hourglass shape and no handle. In 1954, the gavel that had been in use since at least 1834 (and possibly since 1789) broke when Vice PresidentRichard Nixon used it during a heated debate on nuclear energy, despite the addition of silver plates to strengthen it two years prior.[17] The Senate was unable to obtain a piece of ivory large enough to replace the gavel, so they appealed to the Indian embassy. Later that year, India's Vice PresidentSarvepalli Radhakrishnan visited the Senate and presented a replica of the original gavel to Nixon.[18] In response to widespread awareness of elephant poaching and illegal ivory trades, a white marble gavel has been in use since at least 2021.
The gavel of the House of Representatives, by contrast, is plain wood with a handle and is used more often and more forcefully than in the Senate. It has been broken and replaced many times.[19] The instrument is so associated with theSpeaker of the House that the wordgavel itself has become ametonym for the post.
In 1955, Icelandic sculptorRíkarður Jónsson carved the Icelandic birch gavel and striking board used at theUnited Nations.[20]
Media related togavels at Wikimedia Commons