A summary offence is a criminal

Crime

Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...

 act in some common law

Common law

Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

 jurisdictions that can be proceeded with summarily, without the right to a jury trial

Jury trial

A jury trial is a legal proceeding in which a jury either makes a decision or makes findings of fact which are then applied by a judge...

 and/or indictment

Indictment

An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...

 (required for an indictable offence

Indictable offence

In many common law jurisdictions , an indictable offence is an offence which can only be tried on an indictment after a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is a prima facie case to answer or by a grand jury...

).
In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, "there are certain minor or petty offenses that may be proceeded against summarily, and without a jury". Any crime punishable by more than six months imprisonment must have some means for a jury trial. Federal law is codified at .