Primary & Secondary Functions of the Court — Jurisprudence Notes

Primary & Secondary Functions of the Court

Ask anyone what a court does and they will say “it decides who wins the case” — and they are right, but only about half. Alongside deciding disputes, courts quietly do a set of other jobs: they administer the estates of the dead, appoint guardians for children, wind up companies, grant probate of wills, and keep official registers. These secondary functions are easy marks because most students forget them.

The two kinds of function

Everyday hook: a hospital’s primary job is to treat the sick, but it also issues birth and death certificates and stores records — jobs that flow from its main one. Courts are the same.

A. Primary function — administration of justice

The primary and essential function of a court is the adjudication of disputes — hearing the parties, finding the facts, applying the law, and giving a binding, enforceable decision. This is the core work: deciding civil suits and criminal cases and enforcing the outcome. Everything else is secondary to this.

B. Secondary functions

These are functions the courts perform besides deciding contested disputes. Salmond grouped them; learn the list, because a “short note” simply wants them named and one-lined:

Petitions of right — hearing certain claims made against the state/Crown (historically, the way a subject sued the sovereign).
Declaration of rights (declaratory judgments) — the court declares the legal position (e.g. that a person is the lawful owner, or that a marriage is valid) without necessarily ordering any coercive relief. It removes doubt and prevents future disputes.
Administration of estates (and property) — the court administers the property of deceased persons, insolvents, minors and persons of unsound mind: granting probate of wills and letters of administration, appointing administrators and receivers, winding up companies, and appointing guardians for minors and lunatics.
Titles of new rights / creation of rights — the court itself creates or confers certain rights and status: granting probate (which gives the executor his title), adjudicating a person insolvent, decreeing a divorce, declaring legitimacy, incorporating or dissolving bodies. Salmond noted four ways new rights arise this way.
Registration and record-keeping (ministerial functions) — maintaining official registers and records (of judgments, of certain documents), a purely administrative but essential job.

Salmond: “Besides the administration of justice, which is its primary function, a court of law performs other and secondary functions — petitions of right, declarations of right, the administration of estates, and the creation and registration of certain rights.”

In Simple Terms: A court’s main job is to decide disputes (primary function). But it also does supporting jobs — declaring people’s rights, managing the estates of the dead and the incapable, creating certain rights (probate, divorce, insolvency), and keeping official records (secondary functions).

🧩 WORKED EXAMPLE — Primary or secondary?

Facts. (i) A court decides who is liable in a road-accident suit. (ii) The same court grants probate of a dead man’s will and appoints a guardian for his minor son.

Rule. Primary = adjudicating a contested dispute; secondary = declaratory, estate-administration and rights-creating functions.

Apply. (i) Deciding the accident suit is the primary function — a contested dispute adjudicated. (ii) Granting probate and appointing a guardian are secondary functions — administering an estate and creating a status, not deciding a contest.

Conclusion. The same court, two very different kinds of work. Naming the secondary functions is where the easy marks are won.

flowchart TD
    CT["FUNCTIONS OF A COURT"]:::root
    CT --> PRI["PRIMARY<br/>adjudication of disputes"]:::leaf
    CT --> SEC["SECONDARY"]:::leaf
    SEC --> A["Petitions of right"]:::leaf
    SEC --> B["Declaratory judgments"]:::leaf
    SEC --> C["Administration of estates<br/>probate, guardianship, winding-up"]:::leaf
    SEC --> D["Creation of new rights<br/>divorce, insolvency, probate"]:::leaf
    SEC --> E["Registration / records"]:::leaf
    classDef root fill:#FFF8DC,stroke:#000,stroke-width:1px,color:#000;
    classDef leaf fill:#E6F3FF,stroke:#1E3A8A,color:#000;
    linkStyle default stroke:#888,stroke-width:1px;

Case Laws

Brahmdeo Chaudhary v Rishikesh Prasad Jaiswal (1997) — courts adjudicate and protect rights of even third parties in execution — the primary adjudicatory function.
Hari Shankar v Rao Girdhari Lal (1963) — declaratory relief clarifies rights without coercive execution — illustrating a secondary function.

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