Тоқшақ: сот және аукцион символы

Hammer or mallet used in a court or auctionthe hammer used in courts and auctions

A gavel is a small ceremonial mallet commonly made of hardwood, 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. These agreements were set in English land court with the sound of a gavel, a word which may come from the (meaning "tribute"). It may also be used to signify when a member makes a slight breach of the rules. To attract attention and call a meeting to order. In most organizations, two taps raise and one tap seats the assembly; in others, two taps raise and three taps seat it. To maintain order and restore it when breached in the course of the proceedings. (Tap the gavel once, but vigorously). To be handed over to successors in office or to officiating officers as ceremonials, etc. (Always extend the holding end). Improper uses include banging the gavel in an attempt to drown out a disorderly member. In this situation, the chair should give one vigorous tap at a time at intervals. The expression passing the gavel signifies an orderly succession from one chair 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.

The gavel is sometimes used in courts of law in the United States and, by metonymy, is used there to represent the entire judiciary system, especially of judgeship. On the other hand, in the Commonwealth of Nations and the Republic of Ireland, gavels have never been used by judges, despite many American influenced TV programs depicting them. An exception is the Inner London Crown Court, where clerks use a gavel to alert parties in court of the entrance of the judge into the courtroom.

The unique 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 President Richard Nixon used it during a heated debate on nuclear energy, despite the addition of silver plates to strengthen it two years prior. 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 President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan visited the Senate and presented a replica of the original gavel to Nixon. 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. The instrument is so associated with the Speaker of the House that the word gavel itself has become a metonym for the post.

In 1955, Icelandic sculptor Ríkarður Jónsson carved the Icelandic birch gavel and striking board used at the United Nations.