Circadian Rhythm, Sleep Deprivation, and Criminal Responsibility in Nigeria: Emerging Jurisprudential Challenges

Abstract

Circadian rhythm disruption and sleep deprivation are increasingly recognised as factors that can impair judgment, impulse control, and conscious awareness, all capacities essential for criminal responsibility. In Nigeria, however, criminal law has yet to meaningfully engage with these biological realities, relying instead on classical notions of voluntariness. intent, and culpability. The article adopts a doctrinal and interdisciplinary approach, integrating legal analysis with insights from sleep neuroscience to assess the potential relevance of sleep-related impairments as mitigating or exculpatory factors in criminal adjudication. The article examines the emerging jurisprudential challenges posed by circadian and sleep-related impairments, arguing that existing doctrines such as automatism, insanity, diminished capacity, and sentencing discretion provide latent avenues for recognising circadian conditions within the Nigerian legal framework. A comparative analysis with the United States and the United Kingdom demonstrates how courts elsewhere have cautiously integrated sleep science to ensure proportionality and fairness while preserving doctrinal coherence. The article contends that the reluctance of Nigerian courts to integrate these factors represents a missed opportunity to align criminal responsibility with contemporary scientific understanding. The article advocates for a purposive judicial approach that incrementally accommodates circadian and sleep-related evidence without undermining legal certainty.