The gavel is an essential attribute of the judiciary. His blow in the courtroom is a symbol of the indisputability of the decision made by the judge. In addition, if disrespect for the court is felt in the courtroom, then the judge, in order to return order to, has the right to recall the order by hitting a special stand with a hammer.
Instructions
Step 1
The judge's hammer is an attribute of Western justice, it is not typical for Russia. It is made of wood and is nothing more than a symbol of the power of a judge. Most often, the judge's hammer is used when emotional disputes and heated discussions begin during the meeting. The hammer in such cases is a signal for calmness and prudence. So that the judge does not once again raise his voice, he uses it. In the twentieth century, the hammer acquired a new symbolic meaning, American judges hit it after the reading of the guilty verdict, this is a sign that the decision has been made and is no longer subject to discussion in the hall.
Step 2
The history of the judge's gavel dates back to biblical times. There is an Old Testament story about the construction of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. This story describes the murder of the main builder, Adoniram. One of the murder weapons was a hammer. That is, the hammer turned out to be a kind of attribute of sentencing a person.
Step 3
Based on this biblical story, the hammer, as a symbol of creation and punishment, was taken by the Freemasons, who, as you know, were engaged in the "construction" of the world religion. The hammer in Freemasonry is the sign of the chosen Master, who is endowed with strength and power. It was with this subject that a worthy Master had the right to open and close Masonic meetings. The representatives of Freemasonry reacted to the hammering with great respect and admiration.
Step 4
Many researchers attribute the origin of the hammer to the mythological culture of the Sumerians who lived in the 4th-3rd millennia BC. The Sumerians are an outstanding civilization, famous for their successes in the field of jurisprudence. During the court session, they had a tradition of knocking with a hammer, or rather hammering nails into the lid of the coffin in which the criminal was. For each offense of the defendant, the judge drove a nail, but if exculpatory speeches were heard from the defense, the nails were removed. The meaning of this custom was that the more nails were hammered, the harder it was for the criminal to get out, and the more guilty he was. Then the judges began to use the hammer to calm the noisy and violent audience.
Step 5
But for all its symbolism, the hammer is currently not an obligatory attribute of the courtroom, and is most often decorative in nature. The hammer is such a tribute to tradition. In Russia, the hammer is not used at all, but judges often put it on their table for entourage.
