A less serious criminal offence with a maximum punishment of six months in jail and/or a $2000 fine. Surety A person who enters into a bond for a certain amount of money on behalf of another person. The person is responsible for the accused person appearing in court and abiding by court imposed behaviour conditions. If the accused person does not comply, the surety forfeits all or part of the bond. Suspended Sentence A punishment given to a person convicted of an offence which does not require the person to spend time in jail.
A minor criminal offence triable before a magistrate without a jury. In contrast to indictable offence.
A minor criminal offence which is dealt with in the Magistrates Court without a jury.
An offence of a less serious nature and carrying a lesser penalty than an indictable offence. A maximum sentence for an summary offence is a $2,000.00 fine or six months imprisonment or both.
A minor offence heard and decided in a Magistrates Court and not sent for trial before a judge and jury.
A relatively minor offence, usually dealt with by a magistrate in the Local Court. There is no jury trial for a summary offence. Most offences are summary offences. (See also indictable offence).
(see INDICTABLE, EITHER WAY OFFENCE) A criminal offence which is triable only by a Magistrates Court
Less serious offences which can be dealt with by a District Court Judge or Justice of the Peace without a preliminary hearing, e.g. some traffic offences.
Case heard by a Judge (but no jury) in a District Court. A purely summary offence means that the offender doesn't have a right to be tried by a jury. But some summary offences are "triable indictably", which means the defendant can choose trial by jury. Summary offences are usually less serious and get less serious punishments. They may iinclude dangerous driving, breach of periodic detention, or cannabis possession.