Contrary to their ubiquity in the movies, judges rarely (if ever) use gavels during court proceedings. The judicial gavel, a small wooden mallet employed to maintain order and command attention, has an indeterminate history. Found predominantly in United States courtrooms and legislative assemblies, the gavel may have been borrowed from the Freemasons, a fraternal order originating in 17th century England. The gavel symbolized eradicating excess and inviting accord, reflecting a stonemason’s efforts to break up the rough edges of stones and enable their union. Promoting a code of moral discipline and fellowship, Freemasonry spread to the American colonies. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and John Marshall, the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, were Freemasons. During ceremonies closed to the public, Masonic leaders often carry gavels to guide proceedings.
Although the exact origins of the courtroom gavel are unclear, its use as a symbolic representation of judicial authority is well-entrenched, even outside the United States. Gavels appear in court-related imagery, seals, and logos around the world. Webster’s Dictionary defines beginning-to-end coverage of court proceedings as “gavel-to-gavel.”
Gavels were never used in the United Kingdom or its other former colonies. They have appeared – intermittently – in courtrooms in the Philippines and South Korea. Gavels were introduced in Polish courts in late 18th century after the Second Partition; they went into disuse after World War II and were reintroduced in some parts of the country in 2008. Gavels made their way to Chinese courtrooms in 2002 with the introduction of reforms intended to elevate the prestige of the judiciary; the reforms included a transition in judicial attire from army uniforms with epaulets to black robes and gavels.
International tribunals have adopted the use of gavels, including the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. A gavel, given to presiding British Judge Geoffrey Lawrence by US Judge Francis Biddle, opened hearings at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremburg on November 20, 1945. Similarly, in 1946, a gavel was used by an American judge at the Tokyo War Crimes Trial Before the Military Tribunal for the Far East.
The President of the United Nations General Assembly uses a gavel to mark the beginning and end of proceedings and as a means to bring the chamber to order. The first UN gavel, gifted by Iceland’s Permanent Representative in 1952, was shattered eight years later when wielded to deter Nikita Khruschev from banging his shoe on the conference table. (It was later replaced by a gavel of sturdier pear tree wood.)