THE DEFENCE OF INSANITY UNDER THE NIGERIAN CRIMINAL JURISPRUDENCE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

The imposition of criminal liability for doing nothing sounds absurd and preposterous. Consequently, all legal systems of civilized societies have to a large extent included simple moral idea that no one should be convicted and punished for a crime unless some measure of subjective fault can be attributed to the person. The Nigerian criminal jurisprudence provides defence for those who cannot be said to be at fault such as the insane, the young people or those who acted in a state of unconsciousness. The crux of this article is a comparative analysis of the defence of insanity under the Criminal Code and Penal Code of Nigeria and other jurisdictions. This paper, which made use of primary and secondary data as well as the doctrinal research method, found that the Criminal and Penal Codes followed the footsteps of the celebrated M’Naghten Rules in the provisions on the defence of Insanity. However, the statutory provisions of these Codes are substantial improvements of the English rules. There are certain inadequacies which requires urgent legislative intervention. The Criminal Code contains difficult and undefinable phrases quite analogous to M’Naghten’s rules. It is recommended that it should be amended to obviate confusion and much controversies in its interpretation. The obvious short coming of the Penal Code is that it does not specifically provide for the concept of irresistible impulse as factor for exemption from criminal responsibility. This omission is clearly against current scientific development in psychiatry and should be amended to incorporate the concept for the good of the accused and the community