“Order! Order”! : The Judge and the Hammer..??##!!

A court-room full of audiences humming under suspicion, where the judge is about to pronounce its final decision under a catch-22 situation and bang! bang..! The judge bangs the hammer and shouts “Order! Order”!

We all are familiar with this court-room drama presented in various films and serials but have we ever given a thought as to why such a weird tradition of banging a hammer exists in a place like the court-room..??

So first of all in this case the hammer/mallet is a ceremonial one and is called a gavel which is made out of wood and is banged on a wooden block. It symbolizes the authority of the presiding officer. It represents the power of a judge to control.

Secondly the purpose behind such a tradition is to call the attention of those present in the court-room. It is beyond the dignity of the judge to yell or scream in order to keep the court room under control. So the smack of a gavel is used to maintain the decorum of the court proceedings.

Now you may be thinking that such a tradition must be of an English origin. It is said to be a very ancient tradition in common law though the origin of the term “gavel” is unknown, the conjecture is, it may be masonic. Gavels are not used in English courts. Gavels are very much a feature of the U.S courts.

Another question that may arise; does the gavel have any legal significance? What if a judge uses it improperly? As we know that gavel is a ceremonial feature of a court so even if used inappropriately it will have no legal significance.

Besides the beam balance the image of a gavel is also popularly used in depicting justice, court, law etc.

So now you know why the judge bangs the hammer..😃!!!