a summary offence is a crime in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded against summarily, without the right to a jury trial and/or indictment (required for an indictable offence). == united states ==  in the united states, "there are certain minor or petty offenses that may be proceeded against summarily, and without a jury".callan v. wilson, duncan v. louisiana,  any crime punishable by more than six months imprisonment must have some means for a jury trial.lewis v. united states,  federal law is codified at . some states, such as california, provide that all common law crimes and misdemeanors require a jury trial.ex parte wong you ting, 106 cal. 296 (1895)taylor v. reynolds, 92 cal. 573 some states provide that in all offenses the defendant may demand a jury trial. (note that the right to trial by jury is the exclusive right of the defendant, if the defendant chooses to select a bench trial (trial by judge) the prosecution cannot object.) contempt of court is considered a prerogative of the court, as "the requirement of a jury does not apply to 'contempts committed in disobedience of any lawful writ, process, order, rule, decree, or command entered in any suit or action brought or prosecuted in the name of, or on behalf of, the united states'".united states v. barnett,  there have been criticisms over the practice. in particular, supreme court justice hugo black wrote in a dissent, "it is high time, in my judgment, to wipe out root and branch the judge-invented and judge-maintained notion that judges can try criminal contempt cases without a jury."callan v. wilson,  also known as: * violation * violation law * violation crime * violation trial ==canada==  in canada summary offences are referred to as summary conviction offences. as in other jurisdictions summary conviction offences are considered less serious than indictable offences because they are punishable by shorter prison sentences and smaller fines. these offences appear both in the federal laws of canada and in the legislation of canada's provinces and territories. for summary conviction offences that fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government (which includes all criminal law), section 787 of the criminal code of canada specifies that, unless another punishment is provided for by law, the maximum penalty for a summary conviction offence is a sentence of 6 months of imprisonment, a fine of $5,000 or both. as a matter of practical effect, some common differences between summary conviction and indictable offences are provided below. ===summary conviction offences
Crimes Criminal_law