IT IS YOUR RIGHT TO SLEEP!- (Blog)


Introduction

“Your future depends on your dreams, so go to sleep”

-Mesut Barazany

From a new-born baby, to the oldest man alive, we seldom find people who do not like to sleep; in fact there are people who wake up in the mornings only with the motivation, that they can go back to sleep in the night. Biologically, sleep is an indispensable ingredient to maintain physiological and psychological balance in the body and to ensure a resting period for the sophisticated systems of our body that work seamlessly. Some researches also indicate that an astute deprivation of sleep can be as dangerous as costing one’s life.

However, did you know that you have a fundamental right to sleep without any disturbances and you can hold people accountable for the same if such an environment is deprived of, to you?

 International human right legislations and the Indian Constitution have guaranteed this as a fundamental right to us, thereby envisaging its vitality. This article solicits to analyse the same.

Right to Sleep in International Law

The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights,1948 guarantees vide Article 12, the right to privacy. ‘Privacy’ in international law embraces one’s personal life and its necessities, which includes sleep also. Further, Article 17 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,1966 also ensures the ‘right to privacy’ which encompasses a right to sleep. A catena of cases in international jurisprudence like Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence[1] and Varga v. Hungary[2] have reiterated the importance of the right to sleep and have held individuals who deprived the same to be accountable before the law. The United Nations Convention against Torture inherently covers ‘wantonly depriving someone of their sleep’ to be a form of torture that is internationally prohibited.

Right to Sleep vis-à-vis Indian Constitution

The Apex Court of India has widely interpreted various fundamental rights, especially Article 21, which enshrines the right to life. Right to life has been explicated to include a multitude of rights, including the right to privacy. The Supreme Court has held in a plethora of cases, including the Ramlila Maidan v. Home Secretary[3] case, that the right to sleep is a facet of the right to privacy. It was held that, “Sleep is essential for a human being to maintain the delicate balance of health necessary for its very existence and survival. Sleep is, therefore, a fundamental and basic requirement without which the existence of life itself would be in peril”.[4] This ipso facto, showcases the importance given to this right in the India.

Conclusion

Though rights may seem like an intangible concept, it is important to know that they make each one of us powerful. Sleep is a right, which is as crucial as the right to life and right to privacy. The entire balance of the human body depends on sleep, which elucidates the rationale behind it being a fundamental right. So, sleep away in a peaceful environment filled with tranquillity, for it is your RIGHT TO SLEEP!


[1] 468, US 288 (1982).

[2] (2015) ECHR 422.

[3] (2012) 5 SCC 1.

[4] Id.


-Aparna Raju
School of Excellence in Law.

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