Summary Offence

A summary offence, also called a petty offence, is a violation in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded against summarily, without the right to a jury trial or indictment, which is required for an indictable offence. The cited article says that in Canada summary conviction offences are considered less serious than indictable offences because they are punishable by shorter prison sentences and smaller fines, and that in Hong Kong typical examples include possession of a simulated bomb, drunkenness, taking photographs in courts and careless driving. Offenses recorded in the atlas as minor or summary are grouped under this concept.