Editing Summons (section)

==Types of summonses==

===Citation/claim (legal term)===
{{see also|Traffic ticket}}
[[File:Parking ticket - Washington DC - 2011-08-25.jpg|thumb|A parking ticket issued in Washington, D.C.]]
A '''citation''', '''traffic violation ticket''', or '''notice to appear''' is a type of summons prepared and served at the scene of the occurrence by a [[Police|law enforcement]] official, compelling the appearance of a defendant before the local [[magistrate]] within a certain period of time to answer for a minor [[Traffic ticket|traffic infraction]], [[misdemeanor]], or other [[summary offence]]. Failure to appear within the allotted period of time is a separate crime of [[failure to appear]].

In [[Australia]], minor traffic and some summary offences are known as an infringement notice or a [[Fine (penalty)|fine]] and can be dealt with by paying a particular monetary amount depending on the offence. The accused person has the right to have the matter heard in a court; if found not guilty the accused person pays nothing other than his legal costs (if any); if found guilty the accused person faces the prospect of a conviction for the offence and/or a substantial increase in the fine up to the maximum. For example, proceeding through a red light could go from A$353 up to A$2,200 if convicted in [[NSW]]. For more serious offences, a field court attendance notice is issued.

In the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, law enforcement officials may deal with certain minor offences, such as [[litter]]ing, by issuing a [[fixed penalty notice]], colloquially called an "on-the-spot fine", although legally they are not fines. They allow the recipient to avoid going to court by paying a penalty fixed by statute. If such a notice is ignored or disputed, a court summons will be issued as for any other offence.

===Civil summons===
A civil summons is most often accompanied by a complaint. Depending on the type of summons, there is often an option to endorse a summons so that the entity being served may be identified. In the court system in California, for civil unlimited cases in the superior court, a summons will often have these options to endorse:
# as an individual;
# as the person sued under the fictitious name of __________________;
# on behalf of (usually for a company); or
# by personal delivery on __________

===Administrative summons===
One example of an administrative summons is found in the tax law of the United States. The [[Internal Revenue Code]] authorizes the U.S. [[Internal Revenue Service]] (IRS) to issue a summons for a taxpayer—or any person having custody of books of account relating to a business of a taxpayer—to appear before the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate (generally, this means the IRS employee who issued the summons) at the time and place named in the summons.<ref>The summons is generally executed on IRS Form 2039, Summons.</ref> The person summoned may be required to produce books, papers, records, or other data, and to give testimony under oath before an IRS employee.<ref>{{uscsub|26|7602|a}}.</ref>

The IRS is also empowered to issue the section 7602 summons for the purpose of "inquiring into any offense connected with the administration or enforcement of the internal revenue laws".<ref>{{uscsub|26|7602|b}}.</ref>

The summons may be enforced by a court order,<ref>{{usc|26|7604}}. For background, see ''Schulz v. Internal Revenue Service'', 395 [[Federal Reporter|F.3d]] 463, 2005-1 U.S. Tax Cas. ([[CCH (company)|CCH]]) ¶ 50,165 (2d Cir. 2005) (''per curiam'').</ref> and the law provides a criminal penalty of up to one year in prison or a fine, or both, for failure to obey the summons,<ref>{{usc|26|7210}}.</ref> except that the person summoned may, to the extent applicable, assert a [[Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution|privilege against self incrimination]] or other evidentiary privileges, if applicable.

In the U.S. immigration court system, a "Notice to Appear" is an administrative summons ordering a respondent to appear before an immigration court for [[removal proceedings]].